THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 
NATURE-STUDY  SERIES 


Editor 
ELLIOT  R.  DOWNING 


A  SOURCE  BOOK  OF 
BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OP  CHICAGO  PRESS 
CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  COMPANY 

NEW  TORE 

THE  CAMBRIDGE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 
LONDON 

THE  MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA 

TOKYO,  OSAKA,  KYOTO,  PUKUOKA,  8ENDAI 

THE  MISSION  BOOK  COMPANY 


A  SQimCE  BOOK 
OF  BIOLOGICAL 
NATURE-STUDY 


By 
ELLIOT  ROWLAND  DOWNING 

The  School  of  Education,   University  of  Chicago 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 
CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


COPYRIGHT  1919  BY 
THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 


All  Rights  Reserved 

Published  May  1919 
Second  Impression  December  1919 
Third  Impression  December  1921 
Fourth  Impression  December  1922 


Composed  and  Printed  By 

The  University  of  Chicago  Press 

Chicago,  Illinois.  U.S.A. 


GENERAL  PREFACE 

Never  before  in  this  country  has  there  been  so  insistent  a 
demand  for  a  more  thorough  and  more  comprehensive  system 
of  instruction  in  practical  science.  Forced  by  recent  events 
to  compare  our  education  with  that  of  other  nations,  we  have 
suddenly  become  aware  of  our  negligence  in  this  matter.  Now 
industrial  and  educational  experts  and  commissions  are  united 
in  demanding  a  change. 

While  on  the  whole  there  has  been  a  steady  increase  in  the 
amount  of  time  given  to  science  work  in  the  secondary  and 
elementary  schools,  the  attention  paid  to  it,  especially  in  the 
elementary  schools,  has  been  somewhat  spasmodic,  and  its 
administration  has  been  more  or  less  chaotic.  This  is  not  due 
to  lack  of  interest  on  the  part  of  school  officials  but  to  their 
dissatisfaction  with  the  methods  of  instruction  employed.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  superintendents  would  gladly  introduce  more 
science  if  they  felt  sure  that  the  educational  results  would  be 
commensurate  with  the  time  expended.  This  is  indicated  by  a 
recent  survey  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  cities  in  seven 
states  of  the  Central  West.  The  survey  shows  that  two-thirds 
of  them  have  nature-study  in  the  elementary  schools  and  that  all 
are  requiring  some  science  for  graduation  from  the  high  school. 
The  average  high  school  is  offering  three  years  of  science. 
Moreover,  greater  attention  is  now  being  paid  to  the  training  of 
teachers  in  methods  of  presentation. 

The  chief  need  in  science  instruction  today  is  a  more  efficient 
organization  of  the  course  of  study  with  a  view  to  its  socialization 
and  practical  application,  and  it  is  to  meet  this  need  that  this 
series  is  being  issued.  The  books  attempt  to  present  such  gen- 
eralizations of  science  as  the  average  pupil  should  carry  away 
from  his  school  experience  and  to  organize  them  for  the  prepar- 
ation of  the  teacher  and  for  presentation  to  the  class.  The 


viii  GENERAL  PREFACE 

volumes  will  therefore  be  of  two  kinds:  (i)  source  books  with 
accompanying  field  and  laboratory  guides  for  the  use  of  students 
in  normal  schools  and  schools  of  education,  and  of  teachers,  and 
(2)  pupils'  notebooks.  In  the  former  the  material  will  be  organ- 
ized with  special  reference  to  the  training  of  the  teacher  and  the 
most  effective  methods  of  presenting  the  subject  to  students. 
In  the  latter  the  matter  will  be  simplified,  graded,  and  arranged 
in  such  a  way  that  the  books  will  serve  as  guides  in  nature 
work  for  the  pupils  themselves.  Moreover,  they  will  furnish 
texts  for  the  grades  that  will  simplify  the  teacher's  task  of  pre- 
sentation and  will  assure  well-tried  and  well-organized  experi- 
ences, on  the  part  of  the  pupil,  with  natural  objects.  Such 
experiences  are  the  best  foundation  for  the  science  instruction 
of  the  high  school. 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 

The  constantly  changing  point  of  view  in  education,  the 
ever-widening  outlook  of  science  and  its  new  applications,  make 
it  necessary  that  the  teacher  be  provided,  every  few  years,  with 
a  restatement  of  the  subject-matter  of  science  available  for 
instruction.  This  Source  Book  of  Biological  Nature-Study  under- 
takes to  make  significant  some  of  the  commonplace  environment 
and  to  suggest  ways  in  which  living  material  may  serve  educa- 
tional ends. 

The  great  contributions  of  science  to  the  life  of  mankind  are: 
its  emphasis  on  the  scientific  mode  of  thinking  or  the  problem- 
seeing,  problem-solving  attitude  of  mind;  a  mass  of  scientific 
knowledge  that  serves  as  the  basis  for  desirable  skills;  and  an 
interpretation  of  nature  productive  of  an  inspiring  appreciation, 
both  intellectual  and  aesthetic,  of  her  phenomena.  Science 
instruction  needs  to  assure  these  things  to  the  individual  pupil. 

The  material  here  presented  is  therefore  thrown  into  problem 
form,  is  selected  for  its  social  and  practical  values,  and  yet  is 
commonplace,  so  that  the  everyday  things  may  stand  revealed 
as  the  wonders  they  really  are.  The  book  is  to  be  read  in  con- 
nection with  the  work  outlined  in  the  Field  and  Laboratory  Guide 
in  Biological  Nature-Study.  It  is  hoped  that  through  the 
teachers  the  practical  knowledge  and  inspiring  spirit  of  science 
may  be  passed  on  to  the  pupils. 

ELLIOT  R.  DOWNING 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 

THE  SCHOOL  OF  EDUCATION 

January  1919 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS       . xiii 

CHAPTER 

I.  ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM i 

II.  INSECTS     .     .     .   V    .     < 57 

III.  INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES 98 

IV.  BIRDS ..,.." 141 

V.  ANIMAL  COMPANIONS      .     .     .  • 192 

VI.  WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 235 

VII.  COMMON  TREES 309 

VIII.  SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS 371 

IX.  THE  GARDEN  .     .     .     .     .     .  -  .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .  410 

X.  SPORE -BEARERS   . 450 

APPENDIX            .     .           494 

INDEX 497 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

WATER  NYMPHS Frontispiece 

PAGE 

FIG.    i. — MAKING  THE  NET 3 

FIG.    2. — THE  AQUARIUM  IN  THE  MAKING 4 

FIG.   3. — WATER  PLANTS  FOR  THE  AQUARIUM    .     .     .     .     .     .     .  6 

FIG.    4. — A  LAND  SNAIL  (Polygyra  thyroides)   CRAWLING  ON  THE 

GROUND         8 

FIG.    5. — SNAIL,  SHOWING  PARTS 9 

FIG.    6. — VARIOUS  SPECIES  OF  Polygyra 10 

FIG.    7. — WATER  SNAILS,  SHOWING  GENERIC  CHARACTERS      ...  n 

FIG.    8. — LAND  SNAILS 12 

FIG.    9. — A  CLAM  SHELL  AND  CLAM 13 

FIG.  10. — THE  SLUG  (Philomicus  caroliniensis)  AND  ITS  EGGS       .     .  14 

FIG.  n. — THE  SLUG,  Agriolimax 16 

FIG.  12. — A  PUPIL'S  BLACKBOARD  DRAWING  OF  A  CRAYFISH   ...  17 
FIG.  13. — THE  CLAY  CHIMNEY  OF  A  COMMON  WELL-DIGGING  CRAY- 
PISH,  Cambarus  dio genes 19 

FIG.  14. — SOME  FRESH-WATER  CRUSTACEANS 23 

FIG.  15. — A  DRAGON  FLY,  A  PUPIL'S  DRAWING  .     ......  28 

FIG.  1 6. — THE  MOLT  SKIN  OF  A  DRAGON-FLY  NYMPH,  SIDE  AND  BACK 

VIEWS      .     .     ...:.,.     .     ...     .     .     .30 

FIG.  17. — SOME  AQUATIC  INSECTS  AND  NYMPHS 31 

FIG.  18. — LARVA  AND  ADULT  OF  CADDIS  FLY .  32 

FIG.  19. — AQUATIC  INSECTS  AND  NYMPHS .     .  35 

FIG.  20. — THE  DIVING  SPIDER 41 

FIG.  21. — THE  MENSBRUGGHE  FLOAT 42 

FIG.  22. — DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FROG'S  EGG 44 

FIG.  23. — THE  BULLFROG 46 

FIG.  24. — THE  PICKEREL  FROG 47 

FIG.  25. — THE  WOOD  FROG      .     .     . 48 

FIG.  26. — THE  TREE  FROG,  Eyla  versicolor 49 

FIG.  27.— THE  WESTERN  PAINTED  TORTOISE,  A  STUDENT'S  DRAWING  50 

FIG.  28. — THE  SNAPPING  TURTLE 51 

FIG.  29. — THE  COMMON  Box  TURTLE 52 

FIG.  30. — THE  COMMON  SUNFISH 53 

FIG.  31. — THE  STICKLEBACK 54 

FIG.  32. — INSECT  CAGE 57 

sii 


xiv  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PACE 

FIG.  33. — THE  LOCUST,  SHOWING  MOUTH  PARTS 58 

FIG.  34. — THE  CRICKET,  A  PUPIL'S  DRAWING 59 

FIG.  35. — THE  WING  AND  EAR  OF  THE  CRICKET 60 

FIG.  36.— LOCUST  LAYING  EGGS,  AND  THE  EGG  MASSES  ....  61 

FIG.  37. — LOCUST  AND  GRASSHOPPER '.  ...  62 

FIG.  38. — A  PLAGUE  or  LOCUSTS 63 

FIG.  39. — THE  KATYDID .  .  . 64 

FIG.  40. — THE  WALKING  STICK 65 

FIG.  41. — THE  COCKROACH  AND  HER  EGG  CASE 66 

FIG.  42. — DIFFERENT  SPECIES  OF  GRASSHOPPERS 68 

FIG.  43. — THE  TOMATO  WORM 69 

FIG.  44. — THE  TOMATO-WORM  MOTH  AND  ITS  CHRYSALIS  ....  70 

FIG.  45. — HEAD  OF  A  MOTH,  SHOWING  ANTENNAE  AND  SUCKING-TUBE  71 

FIG.  46. — A  BUTTERFLY  FEEDING 71 

FIG.  47. — THE  LARVA  OF  Cecropia 72 

FIG.  48. — Cecropia  COCOONS  AND  THE  MOTH 73 

FIG.  49. — THE  HICKORY-HORNED  DEVIL 74 

FIG.  50. — Polyphemus  STRETCHING  ITS  WINGS 75 

FIG.  51. — COCOONS  OF  PARASITE  ON  LARVA 76 

FIG.  52. — SILKWORMS  SPINNING  AND  SOME  OF  THE  FINISHED  COCOONS  77 

FIG.  53. — FEMALE  TUSSOCK  MOTH  AND  HER  COCOON 78 

FIG.  54. — MALE  TUSSOCK  MOTH 79 

FIG.  55. — BROWN-TAILED  AND  GYPSY  MOTHS .  80 

FIG.  56. — INSECTS  THAT  PREY  UPON  THE  BROWN-TAILED  AND  GYPSY 

MOTHS  .  .  .  ..  ..•••..•'".'- 82 

FIG.  57. — THE  APPLE  WORM 83 

FIG.  58. — SPRAYING  APPLE  TREES 84 

FIG.  59. — THE  CLOTHES  MOTH 85 

FlG.  60. — LlFE-HlSTORY  OF  THE  MONARCH  BUTTERFLY  ....  88 

FIG.  61. — THE  VICEROY  BUTTERFLY 89 

FIG.  62. — THE  FRITILLARY  BUTTERFLY 91 

FIG.  63. — THE  DOG'S  HEAD  BUTTERFLY 92 

FIG.  64. — THE  PAINTED  LADY 93 

FIG.  65. — A  HATRSTREAK  .  93 

FIG.  66. — THE  CHRYSALIS  OF  THE  BLACK  SWALLOWTAIL  ....  94 

FIG.  67. — THE  GIANT  SWALLOWTAIL 94 

FIG.  68. — A  PUPIL'S  COVER  DESIGN 97 

FIG.  69. — QUEEN,  WORKERS  OF  SEVERAL  SORTS,  AND  MALES  IN  THE 

ANT  HOUSE 99 

FIG.  70. — CUTTING  GLASS 100 

FIG.  71. — WORKER,  QUEEN,  DRONE  103 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xv 


PAGE 


FIG.    72. — CHILDREN  WATCHING  THE  REMOVAL  OF  HONEY  FROM  HIVE  107 

FIG.    73. — FRONT  AND  REAR  VIEWS  OF  DEMONSTRATION  BEEHIVE     .  109 

FIG.    74. — THE  PAPER  WASP'S  NEST 112 

FIG.    75. — MUD  DAUBER'S  NEST  .' .     .     .     .  113 

FIG.    76. — DIGGER  WASPS  AND  HOLES 114 

FIG.    77. — THE  CICADA  KILLER 115 

FIG.    78. — THE  SQUASH  BUG 116 

FIG.    79. — PLANT  LICE ;r 117 

FIG.    80. — THE  COCKSCOMB  GALL  OF  THE  COTTONWOOD     .     .     .     .  118 

FIG.    81. — THE  POTATO  BEETLE 119 

FIG.    82. — THE  POTATO  BEETLE'S  ROUTES  OF  MIGRATION  .     .     .     .  120 

FIG.    83. — MAP  SHOWING  INVASION  OF  THE  COTTON-BOLL  WEEVIL  .  121 

FIG.    84. — THE  FIERY  HUNTER  AND  THE  SEARCHER  BEETLES .     .     .  122 

FIG.    85. — TIGER  BEETLES  ON  SAND   .     .    -,   -u 123 

FIG.    86. — THE  HORNED  Passalus  AND  ITS  LARVA,  A  WOOD  BORER    .  124 

FIG.    87. — THE  EYED  ELATER  AND  ITS  LARVA 124 

FIG.    88. — A  LONG-HORN  BEETLE  .     ..••«.'<.*': 125 

FIG.    89. — NINE-SPOTTED  LADYBIRD  BEETLE  AND  ITS  LARVA  .     .     .  125 

FIG.   90. — FLIES .;."'' 126 

FIG.    91. — BEETLE  COLLECTION     .     ..>;,.     .     .     .     .     .     .  128 

FIG.    92. —THE  SPREADING-BOARD  AND  CYANIDE  BOTTLE  .     .     .     .  129 

FIG.    93. — Sporobolus,  THE  MILLIPEDE     .  •  :.  . 131 

FIG.    94. — FRONT  VIEW  OF  SPIDER  (Lycosa),  SHOWING  MANDIBLES 

AND  PALPS 132 

FIG.    95. — A  SPIDER'S  SPINNERETS    ;.:;.••,;.     .......  132 

FIG.    96. — THE  ORB  BUILDER,  A rgiope      .-    . •••••} 135 

FIG.    97. — WOLF  SPIDER  WITH  EGG  COCOONS 136 

FIG.    98. — THE  WOVEN  NEST  OF  THE  ORIOLE 144 

FIG.    99. — NEST  OF  WOODCOCK  ON  THE  GROUND 145 

FIG.  100. — YOUNG  TERN  AND  EGG  ON  ROCKY  SHORE 145 

FIG.  101. — NEST  OF  HERRING  GULL    .     .:,-,::  ^y*.- 146 

FIG.  102. — NEST  OF  BROWN  THRASHER    .     <  -..- 146 

FIG.  103.— NEST  OF  AIGRETTE  HERON     .,:>.:-..>*.• 147 

FIG.  104. — NEST  OF  CLIFF  SWALLOW  .      .   ; .-  •* 147 

FIG.  105. — NEST  OF  MARSH  WREN     .     k-r-.l 148 

FIG.  106. — ROBIN  AT  NEST,  FEEDING  YOUNG,  AND  YOUNG  IN  NEST  .  150 

FIG.  107. — THE  GOLDEN-CROWNED  KINGLET 151 

FIG.  1 08. — THE  CHICKADEE     .     .    ^   ...:>,;.  •  .     .     ,.     .     .     .  15 J 

FIG.  109. — RED-BREASTED  NUTHATCH      ^..^.. *52 

FIG.  no. — THE  BROWN  CREEPER i53 

FIG.  in.— THE  BLACK-THROATED  GREEN  WARBLER 154 


xvi  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

FIG.  112. — THE  BROWN  THRASHER 154 

FIG.  iij. — HEAD  or  BARN  SWALLOW 155 

FIG.  114. — HEAD  or  TOWHEE 155 

FIG.  115. — HEAD  OF  PIGEON 156 

FIG.  116. — THE  SPOTTED  SANDPIPER 156 

FIG.  117. — THE  AMERICAN  BITTERN 157 

FIG.  1 1 8. — LEAST  BITTERN  WATCHING  FOR  FISH 158 

FIG.  119. — HEAD  OF  BLACK  DUCK 159 

FIG.  120. — HEAD  OF  SPARROW  HAWK 159 

FIG.  121. — HEAD  AND  TONGUE  OF  DOWNY  WOODPECKER   .     .     .     .  160 

FIG.  122. — HEAD  OF  WOODCOCK 160 

FIG.  123. — FOOT  OF  FLORIDA  GALLINULE 161 

FIG.  124. — PRIMARY  FEATHER  FROM  WING  OF  HERRING  GULL      .     .  161 
FIG.  125. — FOOD  CHART  SHOWING  PROPORTIONS  OF  FOODS  IN  DIET  OF 

SOME  COMMON  BIRDS 163 

FIG.  126. — MIGRATION  ROUTES  OF  GOLDEN  PLOVER 171 

FIG.  127. — MIGRATION  ROUTES  OF  MOURNING  WARBLER  .     .     .     .  172 

FIG.  128. — MIGRATION  ROUTES  OF  BOBOLINK 174 

FIG.  129. — NEST  Box  FOR  WOODPECKER 178 

FIG.  130. — PURPLE  MARTIN  HOUSE 180 

FIG.  131. — THE  BIRD  BATH 181 

FIG.  132. — THE  OUTDOOR  FEEDING  SHELF    .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .  182 

FIG.  133. — SPARROW  ON  FEEDING  SHELF  OUTSIDE  A  WINDOW       .     .  183 

FIG.  134. — WIRE  TRAP  TOR  SPARROWS 184 

FIG.  135. — PATTERN  FOR  SPARROW  TRAP 185 

FIG.  136. — PATTERNS  OF  FIRST  AND  SECOND  FUNNELS 186 

FIG.  137. — CAT  TRAP 187 

FIG.  138. — CHUMS    .   >     .   '*•     V  .    '.  '   . 194 

FIG.  139. — THE  INDOOR  CAGE       .     .     .     '. 196 

FIG.  140. — ANIMAL  HOUSES  AT  GARY,  INDIANA  .     .     .     .     .     .     .  197 

FIG.  141. — A  WHITE  SHORT-HAIRED  CAVY  OR  GUINEA-PIG      .     .     .  198 

FIG.  142. — THE  FLYING  PEN  FOR  PIGEONS 200 

FIG.  143. — PRAIRIE  DOG  IN  SCHOOL  ANIMAL  CAGE 202 

FIG.  144. — A  PET  BLUE  RACER 203 

FIG.  145. — THE  CHIPMUNK  EATING    ......'....  204 

FIG.  146. — A  DOE  IN  THE  FOREST  HOME 205 

FIG.  147. — SKULL  OF  BEAVER  AND  TREE  HE  CUTS 206 

FIG.  148. — A  TAME  MUSKRAT 207 

FIG.  149. — MUSKRAT  HOUSES  ON  A  SNOW-COVERED  SWAMP     .     .     .  210 

FIG.  150. — THE  SHEEP  PEN 214 

FIG.  151. — SKETCHES  OF  CHICKEN  218 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xvii 

PAGE 

FIG.  152. — RHODE  ISLAND  RED  ROOSTER  AND  BOY  CARETAKERS     .     .  219 

FIG.  153. — THE  CHICKEN  COOP 221 

FIG.  154. — THE  TRAP  NEST      .     '. 222 

FIG.  155. — HYBRID  CHICKENS  AND  MOTHER 224 

FIG.  156. — THE  DAIRY  TYPE  OF  Cow .  227 

FIG.  157. — COYOTE  IN  SCHOOL  PEN    . .  233 

FIG.  158. — A  STUDENT'S  COVER  DESIGN .  234 

FIG.  159. — SOAPWORT    .     .     , 236 

FIG.  1 60. — LEAF  OF  RIBWORT,  SHOWING  FIBROVASCULAR  BUNDLES    .  237 

FIG.  161. — WILD  MUSTARD,  SHOWING  PARTS  or  THE  FLOWER      .     .  238 

FIG.  162. — FORMING  SEED  PODS  IN  EVENING  PRIMROSE     ....  239 

FIG.  163. — MANDRAKE  APPLES  IN  FORMATION 240 

FIG.  164. — DIAGRAM  OF  FERTILIZATION    .     '. 240 

FIG.  165. — THE  CHICKEN'S  EGG 241 

FIG.  1 66. — FIELD  MILKWEED   .     . 242 

FIG.  167. — DOGBANE     .     .     .     .     .     .  ' 243 

FIG.  168. — PRICKLY  LETTUCE  .;..,., 244 

FIG.  169. — Sow  THISTLE .     .  245 

FIG.  170. — SPURGE   .          .     .  ....     .     .     .     . 246 

FIG.  171. — SNOW-ON-THE-MOUNTAIN 247 

FIG.  172. — POISON  IVY 247 

FIG.  173. — WHITE  SWEET  CLOVER,  M elilotus 248 

FIG.  174. — Cow  VETCH  .     . 249 

FIG.  175. — WOOD  SORREL 250 

FIG.  176. — CINQUEFOIL 251 

FIG.  177. — WEEDS  OF  THE  PARSNIP  FAMILY 252 

FIG.  178. — LARGE  MORNING-GLORY  BINDWEED 254 

FIG.  179. — WILD  BUCKWHEAT  OR  BLACK  BINDWEED 254 

FIG.  180. — PASSION  FLOWER 255 

FIG.  181. — DODDER  ON  HOLLYHOCK 255 

FIG.  182. — KNOTWEED 256 

FIG.  183. — CHICKWEED 257 

FIG.  184. — PURSLANE 258 

FIG.  185. — Low  AMARANTH 258 

FIG.  186. — GROUND  IVY 259 

FIG.  187. — CHEESE  WEED 259 

FIG.  188. — BEDSTRAW 260 

FIG.  189. — MULLEIN 261 

FIG.  190. — COMMON  PLANTAIN 262 

FIG.  191. — RIBWORT 263 

FIG.  192. — CURLY  DOCK 264 


xviii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

FIG.  193. — FRUITS  or  VARIOUS  DOCKS 265 

FIG.  194. — RUSSIAN  THISTLE ..265 

FIG.  195. — BULL  THISTLE 266 

FIG.  196. — CANADA  THISTLE 266 

FIG.  197. — BUFFALO  BUR 267 

FIG.  198. — HORSE  NETTLE 268 

FIG.  199. — LEAF  AND  ONE  FRUIT  OF  COCKLEBUR     .    . 269 

FIG.  200. — SAND  BUR 270 

FIG.  201. — LARGE-LEAVED  DOCK  OR  BURDOCK 270 

FIG.  202. — BEGGAR-TICK  IN  BLOSSOM 271 

FIG.  203. — BEGGAR  TICK  FRUIT 272 

FIG.  204. — HOUND 'S-TONGUE 272 

FIG.  205. — JIMSON  WEED 273 

FIG.  206. — CORN  COCKLE 273 

FIG.  207. — BLADDER  CAMPION  . 274 

FIG.  208. — MILKWEED  BLOSSOM 274 

FIG.  209. — BLUE  VERVAIN 275 

FIG.  210. — WILD  HEMP 276 

FIG.  211. — GIANT  RAGWEED 277 

FIG.  212. — WILD  ONION  IN  BLOSSOM 278 

FIG.  213. — WESTERN  YARROW 279 

FIG.  214. — DOG  FENNEL 279 

FIG.  215. — PEPPERMINT 280 

FIG.  216. — SPEARMINT 280 

FIG.  217. — HOREHOUND 280 

FIG.  218. — PENNYROYAL 280 

FIG.  219. — CATNIP 281 

FIG.  220. — CRAB  GRASS 281 

FIG.  221. — OLD  WITCH  GRASS,  OR  SPREADING  PANICUM     .     .     .     .  282 

FIG.  222. — BARNYARD  GRASS 283 

FIG.  223. — SQUIRRELTAIL  GRASS 284 

FIG.  224. — QUACK  GRASS 284 

FIG.  225. — BUTTER  AND  EGGS 284 

FIG.  226. — NEW  ENGLAND  ASTER .284 

FIG.  227.— OXEYE  DAISY 285 

FIG.  228. — SMARTWEED 286 

FIG.  229. — SHEEP  SORREL 287 

FIG.  230. — POKEWEED 288 

FIG.  231. — TALL  AMARANTH  OR  PLNKROOT 289 

FIG.  232. — LAMB'S-QUARTERS 290 

FIG.  233, — BLACK  NIGHTSHADE 291 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xix 

PAGE 

FIG.  234. — PEPPERGRASS 292 

FIG.  235. — SHEPHERD 'S-PURSE 293 

FIG.  236. — DAISY  FLEABANE , 294 

FIG.  237. — WORMWOOD 295 

FIG.  238. — COMMON  WILD  MUSTARDS,  SHOWING  STEM,  LEAVES,  AND 

PODS 296 

FIG.  239. — THE  STRAIGHT  STEM  OF  A  CONIFER  .  .  .  .'  .  .  .310 
FIG.  240. — TWIGS  OF  THE  EVERGREENS,  A  PUPIL'S  DRAWINGS  .  .  312 
FIG.  241. — TWIGS  OF  HORSE  CHESTNUT,  CAROLINA  POPLAR,  AND 

AILANTHUS 314 

FIG.  242. — THE  UNFOLDING  OF  THE  HORSE  CHESTNUT  BUD  .  .  .  .315 
FIG.  243. — PALMATELY  AND  PINNATELY  COMPOUND  LEAVES  .  .  .316 

FIG.  244. — FRUITS  OF  ASH  AND  MAPLE .  .317 

FIG.  245. — A  SUGAR-MAPLE  GROVE  .  .  .  .-• 318 

FIG.  246. — BLOSSOM  CLUSTERS  OF  FLOWERING  DOGWOOD  .  .  .  .319 

FIG.  247. — LOMBARDY  POPLARS 320 

FIG.  248. — WHITE  POPLARS  AS  A  WIND  SHIELD 321 

FIG.  249. — A  BLACK  WILLOW -.  322 

FIG.  250. — TRUNK  OF  THE  BLACK  CHERRY 323 

FIG.  251. — TRUNKS  OF  THE  HACKBERRY  AND  THE  BEECH  .  .  .  .324 
FIG.  252. — A  WALNUT  TWIG  TO  SHOW  CHAMBERED  PITH  ....  325 

FIG.  253. — TRUNK  OF  WATER  BEECH .  .  .326 

FIG.  254. — AN  AMERICAN  ELM 327 

FIG.  255. — A  WHITE  OAK 328 

FIG.  256. — LEAVES  AND  ACORNS  OF  THE  OAKS  .  .  .  .  .  .  .329 

FIG.  257. — GINKGO  LEAF 330 

FIG.  258. — LINDEN  FRUIT 331 

FIG.  259. — A  BLACK  LOCUST .  332 

FIG.  260. — PERSISTENT  PODS  ON  A  HONEY  LOCUST 333 

FIG.  261. — CATTLE-TRIMMED  HAWTHORNS 334 

FIG.  262. — SWEET  GUM,  BRANCHES  AND  FRUIT 336 

FIG.  263. — WITCH-HAZEL  FRUIT 337 

FIG.  264. — TWIG  OF  THE  TAG  ALDER 337 

FIG.  265. — MULBERRY  LEAVES,  SHOWING  VARIATIONS  IN  FORM  .  .  338 

FIG.  266. — A  HARD  MAPLE,  A  PUPIL'S  DRAWING 340 

FIG.  267. — A  STUDENT'S  TITLE-PAGE .  345 

FIG.  268. — LONGITUDINAL  SECTION  OF  A  STEM 348 

FIG.  269. — CROSS-SECTION  OF  ASH  STEM 349 

FIG.  270. — DIAGRAMS  OF  WILLOW  WHISTLE 350 

FIG.  271. — MAP  SHOWING  NATIONAL  FOREST  RESERVES  .  .  .  .  352 
FIG.  272.— REDWOOD  TREES  IN  A  NATIONAL  FOREST 355 


XX  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

FIG.  273. — A  BURNED-OVER  REGION 356 

FIG.  274. — A  CLOSER  VIEW  OF  THE  BURN 357 

FIG.  275. — PINE  SEEDLINGS  UNDER  OLD  TREES 358 

FIG.  276. — REPLANTING  FOREST  LAND 360 

FIG.  277. — THE  FLOWER  SHOW 372 

FIG.  278. — THE  APPLE  DISPLAY 377 

FIG.  279. — SPRAYED  AND  UNSPRAYED  APPLES 378 

FIG.  280. — BEAN  SEEDLINGS 380 

FIG.  281. — TUMBLER  GERMINATOR .  .381 

FIG.  282. — ROOT  HAIRS  OF  THE  RADISH 382 

FIG.  283. — GROWING  PLANTS  IN  POTS  TO  SHOW  EFFECTS  OF  SOIL 

ELEMENTS 385 

FIG.  284. — COLORED  GIRL  CANNING  TOMATOES 392 

FIG.  285. — HOME  CANNING  CLUB  MEMBER  USING  WASH  BOILER  .  .  393 

FIG.  286. — BREATHING  PORES  IN  EPIDERMIS  OF  LEAF 396 

FIG.  287. — METHOD  OF  BREAKING  GLASS  TUBING 402 

FIG.  288. — METHOD  OF  BENDING  GLASS  TUBING 403 

FIG.  289. — THE  SCHOOL  GARDEN 411 

FIG.  290. — PLANTING  THE  GARDEN  .  . 412 

FIG.  291. — BULBS  INDOORS 416 

FIG.  292. — TAKING  PLANT  OUT  OF  POT  TO  TRANSPLANT  .  .  .  .  421 

FIG.  293. — SETTING  OUT  PLANTS  FROM  POTS 422 

FIG.  294. — THE  TOMATO  PLOT,  SHOWING  PLANTS  TIED  UP  TO  STAKES  .  423 

FIG.  295. — A  BACK- YARD  GARDEN 428 

FIG.  296. — A  FARM  BOY'S  ACRE  OF  ONIONS 429 

FIG.  297. — THE  METHOD  OF  GRAFTING 432 

FIG.  298. — A  WELL-PRUNED  YOUNG  FRUIT  TREE  AND  AN  OLD  ONE 

THAT  WAS  NOT  WELL  TRIMMED  WHEN  YOUNG  .  .  433 

FIG.  299. — A  WELL-KEPT  LAWN 435 

FIG.  300. — A  WELL-CULTIVATED  CORN  PATCH 442 

FIG.  301. — HOWARD  COUNTY  PIG-CLUB  BOY  AND  His  PIG  .  .  .  444 

FIG.  302. — GEORGIA  PIG-CLUB  CHAMPION 445 

FIG.  303. — CLIFFORD  DUNCAN  AND  His  PRIZE  CALF 446 

FIG.  304. — A  PROTECTED  PUFFBALL  (Geaster)  ON  THE  SAND  .  .  .451 
FIG.  305. — A  FERN  FROND  OF  ROCK  POLYPODY  TO  SHOW  CLUSTERS  OF 

SPORE  CASES  .  .  .  .  ' 452 

FIG.  306. — A  BLACK  MOLD 453 

FIG.  307. — YEAST  PLANT  SEEN  UNDER  THE  MICROSCOPE  .  .  .  .458 

FIG.  308. — BACTERIAL  COLONIES  ON  GELATIN  IN  PETRI  DISH  .  .  460 

FIG.  309. — EDIBLE  MUSHROOMS 468 

FIG.  310. — THE  LITTLE  INKY-CAP  FUNGUS 469 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xxi 

PAGE 

FIG.  311. — THE  LARGE  INKY- CAP  FUNGUS  (SKETCH) 470 

FIG.  312. — MUSHROOMS  SPRINGING  UP  FROM  THE  ROOTS  OF  A  COTTON- 
WOOD  THAT  HAD  BEEN  CUT  DOWN 471 

FIG.  313. — DEADLY  AMANITA 471 

FIG.  314. — THE  OYSTER-SHELL  FUNGUS  GROWING  ON  AN  OAK  STUMP.  472 

FIG.  315. — THE  EDIBLE  MOREL 473 

FIG.  316. — BRACKET  FUNGI  ON  MAPLE  LOG 474 

FIG.  317. — THE  FAIRY  RING  FUNGUS •  .  474 

FIG.  318. — THE  SHAGGY- CAP  FUNGUS  IN  SECTION 475 

FIG.  319. — PART  OF  A  FILAMENT  OF  A  POND  SCUM  (Spirogyra),  SHOW- 
ING THE  COILED  GREEN  CHLOROPLAST  IN  THE  CELL    .  476 
FIG.  320. — A  FIBROUS  LICHEN  PENDENT  FROM  SPRUCE  TWIG       .     .  478 

FIG.  321. — REINDEER  Moss 478 

FIG.  322. — THE  PYXIE  LICHEN 479 

FIG.  323. — A  LICHEN  FOUND  ON  TREE  TRUNKS,  SHOWING  THE  SPORE- 
BEARING  CUPS 480 

FIG.  324. — THE  HAIRY- CAP  Moss 481 

FIG.  325. — THE  URN  Moss. 481 

FIG.  326. — THE  CORD  Moss 481 

FIG.  327. — THE  BRACKEN  FERN    . 482 

FIG.  328.— THE  ROCK  POLYPODY  FERN 483 

FIG.  329. — THE  SENSITIVE  FERN,  UNDERGROUND  STEM  AND  ALL        .  484 

FIG.  330. — CINNAMON  FERN 485 

FIG.  331. — A  FROND  OF  CLAYTON'S  FERN 486 

FIG.  332. — SPORE-BEARING  AND  STERILE  FRONDS  OF  THE  ROYAL  FERN  486 

FIG.  333. — THE  GRAPE  FERN   .     . •  .     .     .  487 

FIG.  334. — THE  EVERGREEN  CHRISTMAS  FERN  WITH  UNDERGROUND 

STEM       .     .     ...,.< .     .     .  488 

FIG.  335. — FROND  OF  THE  OAK  FERN 488 

FIG.  336. — Two  SPECIES  OF  HORSETAIL 489 

FIG.  337. — STROBILUS  AND  A  SINGLE  SPORE  OF  THE  HORSETAIL     .     .  490 

FIG.  338. — THE  TRAILING  CLUB  Moss .  490 


'CHAPTER  I 
ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM 

Childhood's  interests.— Above  all  other  professions  teaching 
demands  constant  rejuvenation,  and  the  successful  teacher  must 
find  that  fountain  of  perpetual  youth  in  order  to  see  the  child's 
point  of  view.  Do  you  recall  Aunt  Jane's  remark  in  Rebecca  of 
Sunnybrook  Farm?  "  Yes;  I  was,  thank  the  Lord!  I  only  wish 
I  had  known  how  to  take  a  little  of  my  foolishness  of  childhood 
along  with  me  to  brighten  my  declining  years."  The  teacher 
needs  to  take  much  of  the  foolishness  of  childhood  along  with  her 
and  needs  also  to  be  persuaded  that  it  is  not  altogether  foolish. 
How  we  elders  do  assume  superiority  and  try  to  stamp  our  ideas 
of  the  true  values  of  things  upon  the  children!  It  was  a  very 
great  teacher,  however,  who  set  a  child  in  their  midst  and  com- 
mended the  child's  judgment  of  relative  values.  Certainly  it 
behooves  the  nature-study  teacher  to  hark  back  to  childhood's 
days  and  recall  the  centers  of  interest. 

The  pond. — Do  you  remember  the  pond  just  over  the  hill? 
Or  perchance  it  was  a  brook  that  meandered  through  the  meadow. 
What  a  place  of  delight  it  was !  How  pleasant  the  water  seemed 
as  it  rippled  over  bare  feet!  What  imaginary  animals  lurked 
along  the  sedgy  margin!  What  mysteries  were  hidden  in  the 
depths  of  the  pond!  How  intimately  you  knew  the  big  bullfrog 
that  croaked  with  a  muffled  roar,  or  the  green  frog  whom  your 
splashing  stone  sent  plunging  from  the  floating  log!  Can  you 
recall  the  delight  of  knowing  the  tiny,  wiggling  denizens  that 
made  the  shallows  a  populous  tenement?  Do  you  remember 
the  time  spent  in  dabbling  along  the  muddy  shore,  prodding  its 
crannies  with  eager  interest,  and  coming  home  with  your  nether 
garments  much  bedraggled  ?  As  surely  as  the  frogs  in  ponols 
and  ditches  begin  their  chorus  in  the  spring,  so  surely  does  the 


;* ;    ; ;  s&$£c%  $OQk  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NA  TU RE-STUDY 

small  boy  or  girl  also  become  amphibious.  Let  the  teacher  revert 
to  early  days  and  join  the  group  of  interested  waders. 

The  inhabitants. — Sit  down  beside  the  margin  of  the  pond  and 
watch  the  never-ceasing  round  of  activity  displayed  by  its  in- 
habitants. The  soft  mud  along  the  shore  is  furrowed  with  con- 
tinuous but  erratic  lines  at  the  end  of  each  of  which  a  snail  is 
plowing  its  way  slowly  along  as  it  feeds.  A  similar  army  of 
slow-moving  explorers  crawls  over  rocks  and  water  weeds. 
There  are  long  spirally  twisted  fellows,  short  globular  ones,  flat 
coiled  forms,  and  their  sizes  are  as  varied  as  their  shapes.  Out 
in  the  deeper  water  is  seen  the  projecting  end  of  a  clam,  showing 
his  siphon — the  breathing-feeding  tube — fringed  with  sensitive 
tentacles.  On  top  of  the  water  whirligig  beetles  are  gyrating  in 
dizzy  dances,  and  a  group  of  water  striders  skate  along  on  the 
surface  film,  their  shadows  on  the  bottom  showing  almost  more 
distinctly  than  the  skinny  insects  themselves. 

The  villains. — Down  in  the  water  a  diving  beetle  is  swimming 
and  small  folk  scurry  out  of  the  way  of  his  hungry  jaws.  Even 
more  dreaded  than  the  beetle  itself  (Dityscus)  is  its  larva,  the 
water  tiger,  prowling  among  the  dead  leaves  and  debris  of  the 
bottom.  Another  larva,  the  Dobson,  hangs  with  head  down,  its 
hairy  tail  end  acting  as  a  float  to  keep  it  at  the  surface  while 
resting,  but  it  can  leave  its  pendent  lookout  and  swim  with 
rapidity,  to  pounce  on  some  luckless  victim.  The  Dobson, 
water  tiger,  nymph  of  the  giant  water  bug,  and  the  dragon-fly 
larva  are  the  villains  in  the  nature-play.  The  latter  is  crawling 
along  on  the  bottom  nearly  buried  in  the  black  mud,  looking 
like  an  animated  chunk  of  mud  itself,  so  well  does  it  match  its 
environment.  Out  of  the  green  mantle  of  floating  duckweed  on 
the  other  side  a  green  frog  sticks  his  head;  his  throat  swells  as  he 
pipes  his  love  song  to  his  mate. 

But  now  we  must  have  a  nearer  acquaintance  with  these 
many  inhabitants.  The  pond  may  be  made  the  center  of  some 
exceedingly  attractive  nature-study.  We  will  take  off  shoes  and 
stockings,  roll  up  trousers,  and  wade  in,  for  we  want  to  capture 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM 

some  of  these  animals  to  take  back  to  our  aquaria.  Many  of 
them  will  be  easily  secured  from  the  bank  with  long-handled  nets, 
but  the  boy  at  least  will  enjoy  hunting  better  if  he  can  come  to 
close  quarters. 

The  net. — To  make  the  net  frame  use  an  old  broomstick  or  a 
three-foot  length  of  bamboo  for  a  handle  and  a  forty-inch  length 
of  very  stiff  wire  for  the  hoop.  Bend  the  wire  so  that  the  ends 
will  cross  six  inches  from  their  tips  and  twist  these  crossed  wires 
about  each  other  a  couple  of  times  (Fig.  i).  Bend  the  ends  so 


a  b  c  d 

FIG.  i. — Making  the  net:  a,  the  net  complete;  b,  the  wire  frame;  c,  the  frame 
screwed  into  the  handle;  d,  wired  to  handle. 

that  they  will  lie  on  opposite  sides  of  one  end  of  the  handle,  and 
with  fine  wire  or  strong  cord  bind  the  net  frame  securely  to  the 
handle.  The  wire  frame  may  be  soldered  to  a  brass  ferrule  made 
to  fit  a  jointed  handle.  The  net  is  best  made  of  coarse  bobinet, 
although  cheesecloth  or  fine-meshed  mosquito  netting  will  do. 
It  should  be  about  eighteen  inches  deep  and  large  enough  around 
to  fit  the  hoop.  Sew  it  onto  the  wire  frame  and  then  bind  a 
strip  of  cloth  over  the  wire  to  prevent  wear  on  the  net.  One  or 
two  quart  fruit  jars  make  good  receptacles  for  the  catch. 

The  aquarium. — An  aquarium  (Fig.  2)  in  which  to  keep  the 
water  creatures  may  be  cheaply  made  as  follows:  First,  decide 


4  SOtiROE/BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

on  the  size  of  the  glass  to  be  used.  Supposing  the  bottom  glass 
is  to  be  8  by  10  inches,  the  sides  6  by  10,  and  the  ends  6  by  8,  have 
the  tinner  make  a  frame  of  one-inch  angle  tin  loj  by  8^  by  6j 
inches,  or  you  may  solder  together  the  frame  of  angle  tin  your- 
self. In  an  old  bowl  or  on  an  old  piece  of  glass  mix  in  dry  form 
eight  ounces  of  whiting,  one  ounce  of  litharge,  and  one  ounce  of 
red  lead.  Then  with  a  putty  knife  or  old  kitchen  knife  stir  raw 
linseed  oil  into  this  until  it  becomes  the  consistency  of  stiff  putty. 
When  you  can  no  longer  work  it  with  the  putty  knife  sprinkle 


FIG.  2. — The  aquarium  in  the  making:  at  left,  method  of  applying  cement  to 
edge  of  glass. 

some  of  the  dry  cement  powder  on  your  hands  and  work  it  by 
hand.  As  you  knead  it  or  squeeze  it,  the  warmth  of  the  hand 
will  soften  it  and  more  dry  cement  must  be  added  to  make  it  very 
stiff.  This  makes  a  waterproof  cement.  With  a  putty  knife  or 
old  kitchen  knife  apply  a  ridge  of  this  cement  along  each  edge  of 
the  bottom  glass  and  press  it,  cement  side  down,  into  place  in 
the  frame.  Scrape  off  the  excess  of  cement  that  squeezes  out. 
Similarly  place  sides  and  ends  in  position.  Roll  out  short 
" ropes"  of  the  cement  and  press  these  into  all  the  angles  inside 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM  5 

the  aquarium.  Let  it  stand  for  a  day  to  dry  and  it  will  be  ready 
for  use,  though  the  cement  will  not  harden  for  several  days. 

Fishing  instructions. — A  pond  or  stream  that  does  not  dry  up 
completely  in  the  summer  is  best  for  our  purposes  and  one  with 
weedy  shores  is  most  productive.  Stand  on  shore  or  wade  in 
and  poke  the  net  down  on  the  muddy  or  weedy  bottom;  then 
move  it  along  just  over  the  bottom,  with  the  opening  of  the  net 
in  the  direction  of  the  motion.  Give  frequent  jabs  into  the  mud 
or  weeds  to  stir  up  the  inhabitants.  Move  the  net  back  over  the 
same  territory  once  or  twice  so  that  the  animals  stirred  up  the 
first  time  may  be  caught.  After  sweeping  thus  over  the  floor 
of  the  pond  for  several  yards,  pull  in  the  net  and  examine  the 
haul  by  dumping  the  material  on  a  sandy  spot  on  shore  or  on  a 
yard  square  of  thick  white  cambric.  The  animals  will  wriggle 
out  as  the  debris  dries. 

The  catch. — Captured  animals  may  be  put  into  the  quart  jars 
which  have  been  half  filled  with  pond  water,  and  they  will  live 
for  many  days  if  some  of  the  green  plants  found  growing  under 
water  are  rooted  up  and  put  into  each  jar.  Be  careful  not  to  put 
more  than  five  or  six  of  the  larger  insects  into  each  jar,  as  they 
soon  exhaust  the  air  supply.  Many  of  the  minute  forms  that 
would  easily  escape  detection  may  be  secured  by  turning  the  net 
inside  out  and  then  sousing  it  into  a  jar  partly  filled  with  water. 
When  this  has  stood  quietly  for  some  time,  and  the  mud  has 
settled,  the  tiny  animals  will  be  readily  seen.  The  jars  of 
material  so  collected  may  be  taken  home  and  the  contents 
emptied  into  the  aquaria  with  an  added  supply  of  water.  Take 
along  a  jar  of  water  plants  from  the  pond,  several  of  which  are 
illustrated  here,  as  many  animals  cling  to  them  and  they  are 
needed  in  the  balanced  aquarium. 

The  balanced  aquarium. — In  stocking  the  aquarium  put  in  an 
abundance  of  green  water  plants,  which  may  be  bought  at  the 
fish  store  if  not  readily  collected.  Fig.  3  shows  some  of  the 
commoner  kinds  found  in  the  ponds  or  streams.  Have  only  a 
few  animals  in  one  aquarium,  among  them  two  or  three  water 


6  SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


e 


Courtesy  of  "Guide  to  Nature" 


FIG.  3. — Water  plants  for  the  aquarium:  a,  Anacharis;  b,  Ceratophyllum  os- 
milfoil;  c,  caboma  or  water  moss;  d,  Myriophyttum;  e,  Utricularia  or  bladderwort. 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM  7 

snails,  as  they  help  keep  it  clean.  Success  in  maintaining  an 
aquarium  depends  on  keeping  in  it  enough  plants  to  supply  the 
oxygen  needed  by  the  animals.  Always  remove  any  dead 
animals  or  plants  promptly.  The  water  does  not  need  changing 
if  plenty  of  plant  life  is  present,  and,  in  fact,  it  is  best  not  to 
change  it  as  long  as  it  is  reasonably  clear.  Any  wide-mouthed 
jar,  like  a  battery  jar,  candy  jar,  or  low  fruit  jar,  will  serve  in 
place  of  the  aquarium  described. 

Snails. — Snails  are  found  both  on  land  and  in  the  water; 
different  sorts  of  course  live  in  different  situations.  The  best 
one  to  study  first,  because  of  its  size,  is  the  large  edible  snail, 
which  may  be  purchased  of  dealers  or  fishmongers,  but  any  good- 
sized  snail  will  do.  When  received,  this  snail  will  have  the 
opening  of  its  shell  closed  with  a  temporary  diaphragm  which 
it  can  form  as  occasion  demands.  This  it  does  when  moisture 
is  not  abundant.  Some  of  the  snails  have  a  special  horny  plug 
(operculum)  attached  to  the  foot  which  exactly  fits  the  opening 
of  the  shell.  When  they  withdraw  into  the  shell  this  closes  the 
opening  tightly  so  as  to  prevent  loss  of  moisture  in  order  that 
the  animal  may  live  until  the  conditions  are  again  favorable  for 
it.  Put  the  animals,  when  received,  into  a  large  jar  or  an  old 
aquarium  with  moist  sand  or  earth  on  the  bottom.  Throw  in 
also  some  lettuce  or  cabbage  leaves.  Such  a  terrarium  will 
serve  well  for  any  of  the  land  snails,  while  water  snails  will 
simply  be  put  into  water  in  the  aquarium.  In  a  very  few  hours 
the  temporary  seal  on  the  shell  has  been  broken  and  the  snail  is 
out  feeding,  carrying  his  house  on  his  back. 

Crawling. — Observe  that  the  animal  crawls  on  a  muscular, 
boat-shaped  foot  (Fig.  4).  In  the  edible  snail  this  is  as  large  as 
the  hand  and  in  some  of  the  great  sea  snails  it  is  a  yard  long. 
Most  of  the  internal  organs,  digestive,  respiratory,  etc.,  are  up  in 
the  shell,  where  they  are  protected.  When  the  water  snail  is 
crawling  on  the  glass  side  of  the  aquarium,  look  at  the  side 
against  the  glass  to  see  the  waves  of  contraction  that  drive  it  on. 
On  the  underside  of  the  foot  the  mouth  may  also  be  seen  as  the 


8  SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

animal  feeds  upon  the  minute  animals  and  plants  that  grow  on 
the  surface  of  the  glass.  Sometimes  the  water  snails  in  the 
aquarium  will  glide  down  transparent  streamers  of  mucus  which 
they  secrete  and  spin  through  the  water  from  plant  to  plant  or 
from  top  to  bottom. 

Breathing. — Some  of  the  snails  breathe  by  means  of  gills; 
others,  even  some  of  those  that  live  in  the  water,  by  means  of 
lungs.  In  the  latter,  one  can  see  the  spiracle,  or  entrance  to  the 
lung  cavity,  opening  and  closing  (Fig.  5).  This  is  situated  on 
the  upper  part  of  the  foot  near  its  juncture  with  the  shell. 
Water  snails  that  have  lungs  must  frequently  come  to  the  surface 


FIG.  4. — Polygyra  Ihyroides  crawling  on  the  ground 

to  breathe,  though  they  can  take  under  with  them  enough  fresh 
air  (in  their  lungs)  to  last  much  longer  than  a  boy's  supply  would. 
Snail's  eggs. — Many  of  the  water  snails  will  lay  their  eggs  in 
the  aquarium.  They  are  minute,  as  large  around  as  the  wire  of 
a  fine  pin,  and  are  laid  in  masses.  Each  tiny  egg  is  inclosed  in  a 
capsule  of  jelly,  so  that  the  whole  jelly  mass  is  as  large  as  a  big 
pea  or  a  small  bean.  The  mass  is  attached  to  the  glass  of  the 
aquarium,  to  the  plants,  or  to  the  stones.  The  eggs  are  also 
found  in  the  ponds  on  plants  and  stones.  Even  under  a  low- 
power  lens,  like  a  linen  tester,  the  young  snails  are  visible  when 
they  are  developing.  The  snails,  when  first  they  break  out  of  the 
jelly,  are  very  small,  not  larger  than  pinheads,  but  they  grow 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM 


with  rapidity.  Around  the  margin  of  the  mouth  of  the  shell  is  a 
fold  of  the  body  known  as  the  mantle,  which  secretes  new  shell 
and  adds  it,  layer  after  layer,  to  the  margin.  On  an  old  shell, 
from  which  the  organic  material  has 
partly  dissolved,  these  lines  of  growth 
may  be  readily  seen. 

Common  kinds. — It  is  interesting 
to  make  a  collection  of  the  common 
snails  both  of  land  and  water  of  any 
locality.  Label  each  sort  -with  the 
place  where  it  is  found  and  the  date. 
Collect  several  of  each  kind,  and,  if  it 
is  impossible  to  name  some,  one  or 
two  of  each  of  these  sorts  may  be  sent 
to  someone  in  the  state  (possibly  at 
the  state  university)  who  can  identify 
them.  The  important  thing,  how- 
ever, is  to  know  the  habits  and  habi- 
tats, though  it  is  a  satisfaction  to 
know  the  names.  There  are  given  a 
number  of  sketches  to  show  the  dis- 
tinguishing characters  of  some  of  the 
commoner  kinds  (Figs.  6,  7,  and  8). 

Clams. — In  nearly  every  stream 
of  any  size,  in  ponds,  and  in  lakes  the 
clams  are  found.  One  is  likely  to 
become  acquainted  with  the  shells 
first,  for  they  are  often  cast  up  on  the  shore,  and  the  shell  is  no 
mean  wonder.  Some  are  very  large  and  heavy,  other  sorts  are 
small,  and  many  are  thin  and  fragile.  Within  a  generation  a 
great  many  of  the  streams  that  are  tributary  to  the  Mississippi 
have  yielded  a  supply  of  these  shells  to  the  button  factories. 
The  clams  have  been  sought  also  by  the  pearl  hunters,  for  the 
baroque  pearl  now  so  commonly  seen  comes  from  the  clam,  as 
do  some  of  the  beautiful  regular  pearls.  The  shell  has  two 


FIG.  5. — Snail,  showing  parts 


10        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


FIG.  6. — Various  species  of  Polygyra,  common  land  snails,  life  size:  a,  Pulygyra 
albolabris,  the  white-lipped  snail  (note  covered  umbilicus) ;  b,  Polygyra  hirsuta,  the 
hairy  snail  (note  notch  in  lip);  c,  Polygyra  multilineata,  the  many-banded  snail; 
d,  Polygyra  palliata;  e,  Polygyra  pennsyhanica;  f,  Polygyra  profunda  (note  wide 
open  umbilicus);  g,  Polygyra  thyr  aides;  h,  Polygyra  tridentata,  the  three-toothed 
snail. 


FIG.  7. — Water  snails,  snowing  generic  characters:  a,  Limnaea  reflexa;  b 
Limnaea  stagnates;  c,  Limnaea  woodruffi;  d,  Physa  gyrina;  e,  Physa  heterostropha; 
f,  Ancylus  fuscus ,  side  view;  g,  Ancylusfuscus,  from  above;  h,  Amnicola  Cincinnati, 
ensis;  i,  Amnicola  emarginata;  j,  Vahata  tricarinata;  k,  Planorbis  trivolvis,  from 
above;  /,  Planorbis  trivolvis,  side  view;  m,  Planorbis  campanulatiis ,  from  below; 
n,  Planorbis  campanulatus,  side  view;  o,  Planorbis  bicarinatus,  from  below;  p, 
Planorbis  bicarinatus,  side  view;  q,  Vivipera  contectoides;  r,  operculum  of  Vivipera 
contectoides;  s,  Vivipera  subpurpurea;  t,  Campeloma  ponderosum;  u,  Campeloma 
integrum;  v,  Campeloma  subsolidum;  w,  Pleurocera  elevatum;  x,  Pleurocera  subulare; 
y,  Goniobasis  livescans;  z,  Sfrhaerium  transfer  sum  (a  clam). 


SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

b 


FIG.  8. — Land  snails:  a,  Circinaria  concava:  b,  Helicodiscus  parallelus:  c, 
Omphalina  fuliginosa;  d,  Polygyra  tridentata;  e,  Zonitoides  arboreus:  /,  Polygyra 
monodon;  g,  Pyramidula  alternata;  h,  Philomycus  caroliniensis  (a  slug);  i, 
Pyramidula  solitaria;  j,  Pyramidula  perspectiva;  k,  Succinea  avara;  I,  Succinea 
ovalis;  m,  Succinea  retusa;  n,  Cochlicopa  lubrica;  o,  Bifidaria  armifera;  p,  Vertigo 
ovata;  the  last  three  much  enlarged. 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM  13 

parts,  or  valves,  held  together  by  an  elastic  hinge,  which  is  so 
adjusted  that  the  valves  are  ordinarily  somewhat  spread  (Fig.  9). 
They  can  be  closed  tightly  by  powerful  muscles,  the  places  for 
the  attachment  of. which  can  plainly  be  seen  on  the  inside  of  the 
shell.  The  shell  is  lined  by  a  mantle,  the  margins  of  which,  lying 
along  the  margins  of  the  valves,  secrete  the  material  of  which 
the  shell  is  formed.  The  lines  of  growth  show  plainly  on  the 


FIG.  9. — Clam  in  aquarium,  foot  protruding;  clamshell  above 

outside  of  each  valve  as  they  encircle  an  elevated  shoulder,  the 
umbone,  which  in- most  clams  is  nearer  the  hind  end  of  the  shell. 
The  shell  is  lined  by  another  secretion  of  the  mantle,  the  pearl. 
Not  infrequently  when  an  irritating  particle  accidentally  gets 
into  the  clam's  shell  between  the  mantle  and  the  shell  it  is 
covered  over  with  pearl.  Such  secretions  around  some  foreign 
object  form  the  pearl. 

A  clam's  foot. — Like  the  snail,  the  clam  thrusts  a  fleshy  foot 
out  of  the  shell  (at  the  front  end)  by  means  of  which  it  crawls 


14         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

along  the  sandy  or  muddy  bottom.  Usually,  however,  it 
remains  stationary  for  days  at  a  time  as  long  as  the  feeding  is 
good.  The  shell  is  then  two-thirds  or  more  buried  in  the  mud  or 
sand,  just  the  hind  end  sticking  up,  and  between  the  partly 
opened  valves  there  project  two  tubes  formed  of  the  mantle  and 
fringed  at  the  mouths  with  sensitive  tentacles.  Into  one  there 
pours  a  constant  stream  of  water  bearing  the  small,  floating 
animals  and  plants  on  which  the  clam  feeds,  and  out  of  the  other 


FIG.  10. — The  slug  (Philomicus  carolimensis}  and  its  eggs  (natural  size) 

comes  the  stream  of  water  bearing  refuse.  When  a  clam  is 
quickly  lifted  out  of  the  bottom  of  stream  or  pond  his  protruding 
foot  will  be  seen,  but  this  is  promptly  withdrawn  and  the  shell 
closes;  as  this  happens,  the  water  is  spouted  out  of  the  siphon, 
sometimes  quite  vigorously. 

Siphons. — These  can  all  be  readily  seen  if  a  clam  of  moderate 
size  is  placed  in  the  aquarium.  Put  three  or  four  inches  of  sand 
from  the  bottom  of  the  pond  into  the  aquarium  so  that  he  can 
partly  bury  himself.  If  some  of  the  water  plants,  like  elodea, 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM  15 

cabomba,  etc.,  are  planted  in  the  mud  the  clam  will  be  likely  to 
live  longer.  It  is  wise  to  place  only  one  clam  in  an  aquarium 
and  to  have  only  three  or  four  inches  of  water  above  the  sand. 
If  the  clam  is  simply  laid  on  the  bottom  it  will  soon  open  its 
shell,  thrust  out  its  foot,  and  proceed  to  bury  its  anterior  end, 
leaving  the  posterior  end  above  the  surface.  Out  of  this  the 
siphons  open  and  soon  particles  in  the  water  will  indicate  the 
direction  of  the  flow  of  water  currents  bearing  food  and  air. 

Young  clams. — The  eggs  of  the  clam  are  retained  within  the 
shell  until  they  hatch  into  the  young  clams,  when  they  are  thrown 
out  of  a  siphon.  They  are  at  first  tiny  bivalve  forms,  each  valve 
being  provided  with  a  hook  or  tooth  nearly  opposite  its  fellow 
on  the  other  valve.  They  can  swim  by  repeatedly  clapping  the 
valves  together  and  forcibly  ejecting  the  water,  each  squirt  of 
water  propelling  the  tiny  fellow  a  short  way.  They  attach 
themselves  by  their  hooks  to  the  gills,  fins,  or  tails  of  fish,  where 
they  remain  until  they  have  grown  much  larger,  when  they  drop 
off  and  sink  to  the  bottom  to  live  the  clam's  usual  life. 

Miniatures. — In  the  streams  and  ponds  where  the  larger  clams 
are  found  will  be  found  some  small  bivalves,  living  for  the  most 
part  in  shallow  water.  These  are  usually  not  the  young  of  the 
larger  clams,  but  adults  of  a  family  (Sphaeriidae) ,  individuals  of 
which  never  do  grow  large  (Fig.  72).  Sometimes  the  full-grown 
forms  are  not  longer  than  the  diameter  of  a  pencil.  These 
sphaeriidia  will  live  in  the  aquaria  very  well,  and  even  in  relatively 
cramped  quarters  will  show  all  the  typical  behavior  of  the  clams. 

Land  molluscs. — Snails  and  clams  both  belong  to  the  great 
group  of  animals  (subkingdom)  known  as  the  Mollusca.  The 
third  major  subdivision  of  the  molluscs  in  addition  to  the  snails 
and  the  clams  includes  only  salt-water  forms — the  squids  and 
devil  fishes  or  octopi.  While  the  molluscs  are  primarily  water 
animals,  many  of  them  have  taken  to  the  land,  where  a  number 
(snails  and  slugs)  may  be  found  active  in  moist  situations.  The 
damp  ground  stratum  of  forests  is  the  place  to  look  for  these — 
turn  over  the  logs,  break  apart  decayed  stumps,  or,  where  the 


16         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

air  is  moisture-laden,  expect  them  on  the  low  shrubs  and  ferns. 
There  is  figured  here  one  of  the  commonest  slugs  and  a  number 
of  the  land  snails  (Figs.  8  and  1 1) .  The  slugs  are  naked  molluscs ; 
that  is,  they  have  no  external  shell,  and  look  almost  wormlike  as 
they  crawl  along.  The  tentacles  and  stalked  eyes,  however,  will 
readily  distinguish  them. 

Crayfish.— One  of  the  best-known  inhabitants  of  the  ponds 
and  streams— the  best  known,  at  least,  to  the  boys  and  girls— is 
the  crayfish,  or  crab  as  he  is  wrongly  called.  (True  crabs  have 
very  short  tails  always  turned  under,  out  of  sight;  they  are 
marine.)  He  will  repay  careful  observation,  for  he  is  an  exceed- 
ingly interesting  animal.  He  will  be  found  under  the  stones  in  the 

streams  or  ponds,  hiding 
in  old  tin  cans  or  other  safe 
retreats.  When  disturbed 
he  is  likely  to  assume  a  de- 
fensive attitude,  standing 
on  all  his  walking  legs  and 
raising  the  great  pincers 
that  arm  the  first  pair  of 
legs,  ready  to  nip  the  in- 

FIG.  ii.-The  slug,  AgnoKmox  tmdei\     PerhaPS  he  deemS 

discretion  the  better  part 

of  valor  and  beats  a  hasty  retreat — how  hasty  is  realized  only 
if  one  tries  to  pick  him  up.  The  direction  of  his  locomotion  is 
also  contrary  to  expectation.  Study  him  in  his  native  home  or, 
if  time  will  not  permit,  gather  several  in  the  net  and  carry  them 
back  to  the  aquarium.  The  animals  are  transported  best  in  a 
jar  with  some  of  the  moist  water  weed,  rather  than  in  water. 
They  will  thrive  in  an  aquarium  jar  on  the  bottom  of  which  is 
a  layer  of  wet  earth  with  some  wet  water  weeds  in  one  corner. 
The  jar  should  be  covered  to  prevent  evaporation  and  water 
should  be  added  from  time  to  time  to  insure  abundant  moisture. 
His  armor. — The  crayfish  reminds  one  of  a  knight-errant, 
going  about  in  his  coat  of  mail  seeking  adventures.  Notice  that 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM  17 

the  animal  is  apparently  made  up  of  two  main  parts — a  forward 
portion  covered  with  a  single  piece  of  protective  armor,  the  head- 
thorax,  and  a  posterior  part,  the  abdomen,  made  up  of  successive 
segments  (Fig.  12).  There  are  five  pairs  of  legs,  the  front  pair 
being  armed  with  powerful  claws,  used  for  offense  and  defense, 
while  the  other  four  pairs  are  the  walking  legs.  Not  infrequently 
you  will  find  an  animal  with  one  great  claw  gone  and  a  small  one 


FIG.  12. — A  pupil's  blackboard  drawing  of  a  crayfish 

in  its  place,  for  in  their  fights  the  animals  are  likely  to  lose  a  claw, 
pinched  off  by  the  more  powerful  opponent.  It  is  soon  grown 
again,  for  the  lowly  animals  have  wonderful  powers  of  regenerat- 
ing lost  parts.  There  are  two  pairs  of  feelers,  a  long  pair  of 
antennae,  and  the  short  antennules.  The  eyes  are  mounted  on 
movable  stalks,  a  compensation  for  the  immovable  head. 

The  eggs. — On  most  abdominal  segments  there  is  a  pair  of 
swimmerets,  really  legs.     The  pair  on  the  next  to  the  last 


l8         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

segment  is  broadened  out  very  much  to  help  form  the  powerful 
tail.  In  the  spring  females  are  often  found  carrying  clusters  of 
eggs  attached  to  the  hairs  that  fringe  the  forward  swimmerets. 
Crayfish  may  readily  be  picked  up  and  one  can  see  these  egg 
masses  by  holding  the  animal  with  thumb  and  forefinger  placed 
on  opposite  sides  of  the  head- thorax.  When  so  held  their  pincers 
cannot  reach  the  fingers;  the  pincers  are  not  formidable,  how- 
ever, as  they  cannot  nip  hard  enough  to  hurt  seriously.  Capture 
some  crayfish  with  eggs  and  take  them  home  to  the  aquarium,  or 
obtain  some  from  fish  dealers  or  supply  houses.  (See  Appendix.) 

Gills. — The  swimmerets  are  in  constant  motion,  drawing  a 
current  of  water  through  the  gill  cavities,  for  the  crayfish 
breathes  by  means  of  gills.  These  are  located  on  the  sides  of 
the  body  and  are  covered  up  by  the  armor  over  the  head- 
thorax  The  edges  of  this  carapace  are  free,  however,  so  that  a 
stream  of  water  constantly  flows  in  and  out.  Look  the  animal 
"square  in  the  face"  as  he  stands  quietly  in  the  aquarium.  On 
the  underside,  just  in  front  of  the  opening  to  the  gill  chamber, 
there  may  be  seen  on  either  side  a  rapidly  moving  organ  that  looks 
like  a  whirling  propeller  wheel.  This  device  helps  to  keep  the 
water  running  through  the  gill  chamber.  Finely  powdered 
chalk  or  other-  light  insoluble  substance  dusted  into  the  water 
near  the  crayfish  will  show  by  its  movement  the  direction  of  flow 
of  this  water  current  to  the  gills. 

Walking. — The  animal  walks  quite  as  readily  backward  or 
sideways  as  it  does  forward,  reaching  out  its  antennae  and  finding 
its  way  as  a  blind  man  might  with  his  cane.  But  this  is  a  slow 
method  of  locomotion.  If  poked  the  animal  will  suddenly  dart 
backward  with  surprising  swiftness,  using  the  tail  fin  as  a  paddle, 
which  he  curves  under  the  body  in  a  succession  of  quick  strokes 
that  draw  him  backward.  It  is  such  a  peculiar  and  expressive 
movement  that  the  phrase  "to  crayfish"  has  crept  into  our 
language  to  signify  an  undignified  and  hasty  retreat  from  a 
difficult  situation.  Certainly  the  crayfish  does  not  wait  on 
ceremony  when  danger  threatens. 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM  19 

Food. — The  crayfish  feeds  on  dead  animal  material,  acting 
as  a  scavenger  of  streams  and  ponds.  Just  a  few  bits  of  meat 
may  be  put  into  the  aquarium  for  him  to  eat;  he  will  also  accept 
small  pieces  of  angleworm,  egg,  bread,  potato,  or  aquatic  plants. 
These  are  seized  by  the  claws  on  the  second  legs  and  held  up  to 
the  mouth.  Several  pairs  of  appendages  manipulate  the  food 
here  and  force  it  in  between  the  powerful  horny  jaws,  which  work, 
as  do  the  other  mouth  parts,  from  side  to  side,  not  up  and  down. 


FIG.  13. — The  clay  chimney  of  a  common  well-digging  crayfish,  Cambarus 
dio  genes. 

If  the  crayfish  does  not  eat  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours,  the  bits 
of  meat  should  be  removed  or  they  will  decompose  and  thus  foul 
the  water. 

There  is  one  group  of  crayfishes  that  live  often  at  a  considerable 
distance  from  streams  and  ponds  and  dig  wells  for  themselves 
so  as  to  reach  the  necessary  water  (Fig.  13).  These  usually 
inhabit  swampy  ground  or  else  live  in  situations  where  there  is  a 
clay  subsoil  that  holds  the  water  well.  The  earth  is  dug  out 
with  the  claws,  and  as  the  hole  deepens  it  is  pushed  to  the  surface 


20         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

and  piled  around  the  opening,  forming  a  chimney  rising  above  the 
level  of  the  earth.  The  animal  is  usually  found  near  the  top 
of  the  hole  but  drops  down  if  danger  threatens.  They  leave 
their  burrows,  especially  at  night,  to  seek  food. 

Breeding. — Crayfishes  mate  in  the  spring,  usually  in  March. 
The  males  may  be  told  by  the  peculiar  modification  of  the  first 
and  second  pairs  of  swimmerets,  which  fit  together  to  form  a  tube. 
A  male  should  be  kept  in  a  shallow  dish  for  a  couple  of  days  until 
he  gets  used  to  it,  and  then  a  female  of  the  same  size  may  be  put 
in  with  him.  Leave  them  together  for  a  few  days  and  then  put 
the  female  in  an  aquarium  with  shallow  water.  Put  some  rocks 
or  bits  of  brick  or  tile  in  one  corner  so  that  she  may  crawl  in  out 
of  the  bright  light.  The  eggs  are  usually  laid  at  night  in  a  mass 
of  mucus  which  is  held  under  the  abdomen.  The  female  goes 
through  strange  antics,  lying  down  and  rolling  over — all  a  part 
of  instinctive  behavior  to  accomplish  the  fertilization  of  the  eggs 
and  their  fixation  to  her  swimmerets,  each  egg  being  attached  by 
its  own  strong  stalk.  This  process  requires  a  couple  of  days,  then 
the  eggs  remain  so  fastened  until  they  hatch. 

The  young. — The  hatching  requires  from  five  to  eight  weeks, 
according  to  temperature.  In  the  first  week  various  cleavage 
stages  may  be  seen  under  even  a  simple  lens ;  the  egg  divides  and 
subdivides  until  it  is  a  mass  of  tiny  cells.  In  the  second  week  the 
beginnings  of  the  embryo  may  be  made  out.  By  the  fourth  week 
the  embryo  extends  over  half  the  egg.  When  the  larvae  actually 
hatch  they  are  brilliantly  colored  little  fellows  with  conspicuous 
eyes,  and  are  so  transparent  that  the  internal  organs  are  readily 
seen  and  the  heart  beat  may  be  watched.  After  hatching,  the 
young  reattach  themselves  to  the  parent.  It  is  interesting  to 
watch  the  behavior  of  the  young  when  the  parent  is  fed.  Later 
they  leave  the  mother  to  lead  their  own  independent  lives.  All 
of  this  may  be  watched  in  the  home  or  school  aquarium.  After 
the  eggs  are  attached,  the  female  may  be  picked  up  so  that 
the  eggs  may  be  examined.  One  or  two  of  these  may  be  de- 
tached and  put  into  a  small  dish  like  a  watch  crystal,  so  as  to 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM  21 

examine  them  more  readily  under  the  lens  and  notice  the  succes- 
sive stages. 

Molting. — Young  crayfish  are  covered,  like  the  adults,  with 
a  hard  external  shell,  as  are  the  insects  and  other  members  of  the 
arthropods  (see  next  paragraph).  This  external  shell  is  really 
the  animal's  skeleton,  placed  on  the  outside  of  his  body  instead 
of  inside,  as  is  ours.  It  does  double  duty  as  a  protection  and  for 
the  attachment  of  the  muscles  of  locomotion.  As  it  is  evidently 
impossible  to  grow  when  incased  in  armor,  the  young  of  such 
animals  feed  until  they  literally  burst  their  skins.  The  crayfish 
skin,  or  exoskeleton,  breaks  down  the  back  and  the  animal  crawls 
out  of  his  old  shell  wearing  a  thin  new  covering  that  will  stretch 
for  a  short  time.  The  youngster  takes  advantage  of  the  opportu- 
nity and  grows  with  great  rapidity  while  he  hides  in  some  cranny 
among  the  rocks,  for  he  is  now  a  dainty  morsel.  It  is  at  this 
stage  that  men  catch  the  soft-shell  crabs  of  the  seashore;  the 
crayfish  in  similar  condition  is  a  grateful  addition  to  the  bill  of 
fare  of  crow  or  turtle  or  other  hungry  beasts  that  feed  upon  him. 
In  a  few  days  the  lime  salts  have  deposited  in  the  new  and  tender 
covering  and  have  hardened  it  into  an  effective  protection  again. 
But  this  process  of  change  of  clothes  must  be  undergone  fre- 
quently as  the  young  crayfish  grows,  and  the  discarded  old 
garments  are  found  among  the  rocks  of  the  pond  or  stream. 
This  is  another  interesting  process  to  be  watched  in  the  aquarium 
as  the  baby  crayfishes  grow  larger. 

Other  crustaceans. — The  crayfish  is  by  no  means  the  most 
abundant  of  our  fresh-water  crustaceans,  although  it  is  the  best 
known.  There  are  hordes  of  smaller  ones  that  inhabit  the  ponds 
and  streams,  and  of  these  the  shrimp,  Palaemoneles  (Fig.  14^:), 
is  the  most  nearly  related  to  and  most  like  the  crayfish.  The 
head  and  thorax  are  covered  by  the  carapace,  which  is  made  of 
chitin,  the  substance  that  forms  the  hard  covering  of  insects  like 
the  beetle.  There  is  much  chitin  in  the  hard  shell  of  the  crayfish, 
too,  but  this  is,  as  noted  above,  strongly  impregnated  with  lime. 
The  large  pincers  are  absent  in  the  shrimp.  It  is  about  one  and 


22          SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

a  half  inches  long  in  our  common  sort.  Instead  of  crawling  on 
the  bottom  it  may  be  seen  swimming  gracefully  among  the  sub- 
merged vegetation.  It  prefers  water  four  or  five  feet  deep, 
where  there  are  abundant  water  plants  growing  pretty  well  up 
to  the  surface.  The  shrimps  are  almost  transparent  and  are 
tinged  with  green,  so  that  they  are  nearly  invisible  in  their  native 
haunts.  They  are  easily  captured  with  an  ordinary  dip  net,  but 
when  brought  up  they  spring,  by  suddenly  extending  the  abdo- 
men, and  may  even  jump  out  of  a  shallow  net.  They  are  very 
beautiful  animals  but  are  hard  to  keep  in  an  ordinary  aquarium, 
unless  it  can  be  supplied  with  running  water  and  a  moderately 
low  temperature  can  be  maintained.  They  are  to  be  found  in 
late  spring  and  early  summer  in  spring-fed  ponds  and  streams. 
They  feed  on  the  "smaller  forms  to  be  described  below. 

The  water  sow  bug. — If  with  the  net  the  fine  debris  of  the  pond 
bottom  or  the  decaying  leaves  lying  in  the  shallow  water  of  pond 
or  bayou  of  the  river  are  swept  up,  two  sorts  of  crustaceans  will 
quite  certainly  be  found.  The  water  sow  bug,  Asellus*  (Fig.  140), 
is  a  flattened  animal  looking  as  if  a  weight  placed  upon  his  back 
had  compressed  him.  He  is  about  half  an  inch  long  and  a  fourth 
as  wide.  His  color  is  brown  to  gray.  He  is  segmented;  the 
head  and  thorax  are  distinct,  the  latter  composed  of  separate 
rings.  The  abdomen  seems  all  one  piece  when  seen  from  above. 
It  bears  two  sensitive  organs,  like  antennae,  on  the  hind  end. 

1  It  seems  too  bad  that  these  animals  and  the  ones  that  follow  have  not  simpler 
names.  We  must  be  content  with  such  as  they  possess.  It  may  be  well  to  give 
here  a  brief  synopsis  of  some  of  the  more  important  orders  of  the  crustaceans,  not 
with  a  view  to  having  the  child  learn  such  terms,  but  merely  to  give  the  teacher 
some  comprehension  of  the  relations  of  the  forms  discussed.  The  class  Crustacea 
is  divided  into  two  subclasses,  the  Malacostraca  and  the  Entomostraca.  Each  of 
these  divisions  includes  several  orders,  representatives  of  which  are  found  in  fresh 
water  as  follows: 

MALACOSTRACA  : 

Podophthalmata — crayfish,  Palaemonetes;  Isopoda — Asellus;   Amphi- 

poda — Gammarus,  Eucrangonyx. 
ENTOMOSTRACA  : 

Branchiopoda — Eubranchipus;      Cladocera — Daphnia;      Ostracoda — 
Cypris;  Copepoda — Diaptomus,  Cyclops,  Canthocampus. 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM 


FIG.  14. — Some  fresh-water  crustaceans:  a,  Asellus,  the  water  sow  bug; 
by  Gammarus,  the  bender;  c,  Palaemomtes,  the  true  shrimp;  d,  Eubranchipus, 
the  fairy  shrimp;  e,  Canthocampus;  f,  Cyclops;  g,  Cypris,  side  and  top  views; 
ht  Daphnia,  the  water  flea. 


24         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Several  pairs  of  jointed  legs,  all  alike  (hence  the  name  of  isopod), 
are  attached  to  the  thorax.  On  the  underside  of  the  abdomen 
are  the  thin  gills,  like  the  leaves  of  a  book,  which  in  the  water  are 
constantly  moving  so  that  the  water  with  its  contained  air  will 
circulate  freely  between  them. 

Breeding  time. — The  female  carries  her  eggs,  and  later  on  the 
young,  on  the  underside  of  the  thorax  in  a  brood  pouch  which 
scrapes  the  ground,  so  that  she  seems  to  be  very  fat.  Popularly, 
therefore,  these  animals  are  known  as  "sow  bugs."  The  name 
applies  also  to  some  close  relatives  of  Asellus  that  live  under  old 
logs,  under  stones,  and  in  damp  cellars.  Often  when  disturbed 
these  land  forms  roll  up,  curling  head  and  tail  together  and  form- 
ing a  ball  or  pill,  so  that  they  have  also  the  common  name  of 
pill  bug.  Asellus  breeds  early,  as  soon  as  the  ice  is  off  the  ponds, 
and  there  are  usually  several  broods  each  season;  thirty  to  two 
hundred  young  make  up  a  single  brood.  If  they  are  to  be  kept 
in  an  aquarium,  take  in  some  of  the  dead  leaves  along  with  them 
and  keep  only  a  shallow  layer  of  water  over  these  in  the  aquarium, 
or  else  keep  them  in  quart  fruit  jars  with  running  water. 

The  bender. — The  amphipods  are  flattened  from  side  to  side, 
as  Fig.  i4&  shows.  Several  closely  related  genera  are  common, 
of  which  Gammarus  is  usually  found  in  the  streams  and  Eucran- 
gonyx  in  the  lakes  and  ponds.  The  animals  swim  readily  and 
can  easily  be  seen  swimming  among  the  dead  leaves  and  growing 
plants  along  the  margins  of  the  streams.  They  often  bend  the 
body  into  a  bow,  and  then  straighten  it  again,  especially  when 
taken  out  of  the  water,  and  the  motion  is  so  characteristic  that 
the  animal  is  called  the  "bender."  The  creature  is  whitish, 
changing  to  a  dull  brown  as  it  grows  older.  These  animals  are 
sensitive  to  light,  being  repelled  by  strong  light  but  attracted 
by  dim  light,  so  that  they  seek  the  deeper,  shadowy  portions  of 
the  ponds  and  streams  by  day  but  swim  near  the  surface  at  dusk 
or  on  dull  days.  They  manifest  another  interesting  reaction,  a 
preference  for  situations  in  which  most  of  the  body  can  be  in 
contact  with  solid  substances.  They  therefore  seek  cracks  and 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM  25 

crevices  when  at  rest  and  in  the  aquarium  congregate  in  the 
corners. 

The  fairy  shrimp. — By  far  the  largest  of  the  common  Ento- 
mostraca  is  Eubranchipus,  the  fairy  shrimp  (Fig.  14^).  Although 
commonly  called  a  shrimp,  it  is  not  at  all  closely  related  to 
Palaemonetes ,  already  studied.  It  is  an  inhabitant  of  the 
temporary  ponds  that  result  from  melting  snows  and  abundant 
rains.  It  is  a  graceful  creature,  a  half-inch  long  or  so  when  full 
grown,  is  pale  greenish  in  color,  but  as  its  swimming  organs  are 
fringed  with  reddish  hair  the  general  effect  is  of  a  reddish-brown 
animal.  These  swimming  appendages  are  the  most  conspicuous 
features,  as  the  animal  swims  on  its  back  and  waves  eleven  pairs 
of  these  jointed  organs  like  so  many  plumes.  There  are  no  other 
legs  or  differentiated  appendages  except  the  antennae;  the  eyes 
are  conspicuous,  but  are  not  stalked  as  in  the  crayfish.  The 
entire  organism  is  segmented.  It  is  a  relatively  short-lived  ani- 
mal, lasting  only  four  or  five  weeks.  When  it  first  appears  in 
the  pools  it  is  tiny,  but  it  grows  with  rapidity,  and  as  it  matures 
the  eggs  are  readily  seen  in  the  translucent  body.  These  are 
deposited  on  the  bottom  of  the  pond  among  the  debris,  where 
they  must  dry  up  and  freeze  during  the  winter  before  they  will 
hatch  when  the  temporary  ponds  form  again  in  the  spring. 

The  head-legs. — The  other  fresh- water  Entomostraca  are 
hardly  larger  than  pinheads,  while  some  are  merely  living  dots 
that  go  swimming  about  in  the  water  (Fig.  14).  The  Copepods 
are  all  plainly  segmented.  Their  antennae  are  well  developed 
and  serve  as  the  organs  of  locomotion,  so  that  it  appears  as  if 
their  legs  were  on  their  heads;  hence  the  name.  There  is  a 
single  eye  in  the  middle  of  the  forehead.  In  Diaptomus  the 
antennae  are  very  long  (twenty- three  to  twenty-five  jointed), 
reaching  back  to  the  end  of  the  body.  Cyclops  has  antennae 
only  about  half  as  long  as  itself  (eight  to  eighteen  segments), 
while  Canthocampus  has  antennae  that  are  only  ten  segments  or 
less  long,  scarcely  longer  than  the  head.  Cyclops  is  perhaps 
commonest.  If  water  plants  or  the  old  leaves  from  the  bottom 


26         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

of  the  pond  are  brought  home  in  a  pint  fruit  jar  and  put  into  the 
aquarium  or  other  vessel  with  some  fresh  water,  in  a  short  time 
some  of  these  forms  are  quite  sure  to  appear.  Cyclops  swims 
with  a  jerky  motion  and  the  females  carry  two  big  sacks  of  eggs, 
one  on  either  side  of  the  abdomen.  Diaptomus  and  Cantho- 
campus  females  have  a  single  egg  sac  carried  below  the  abdomen. 

Clamshell  crustaceans. — The  Ostracods  are  interesting  crus- 
taceans whose  bodies  are  inclosed  in  a  double  shell  that  looks 
like  a  tiny  translucent  clamshell.  When  active  the  antennae 
and  swimming  feet  stick  out  of  this  shell,  but  when  at  rest  even 
these  are  drawn  inside.  They  swim  like  little  rolling  dots  of 
animated  material  and  must  be  put  under  a  magnifying  glass  to 
be  seen  at  all  satisfactorily.  The  sketch  of  Cypris  (Fig.  14^),  a 
common  sort,  gives  some  idea  of  the  animal's  appearance.  The 
Cladocerans  are  very  incompletely  covered  with  a  shell  and  the 
body  does  not  appear  segmented,  although  plainly  segmented 
appendages  appear.  Daphnia  is  a  common  representative.  It, 
too,  swims  by  the  use  of  the  antennae,  and,  like  the  Copepod,  it 
has  a  single  median  eye. 

All  of  the  Entomostraca  are  best  caught  by  trailing  a  wide- 
mouthed  tapering  net  made  of  miller's  bolting  cloth  along  at 
or  near  the  surface  of  the  water  on  dull  days  or  near  dusk.  At 
frequent  intervals  turn  this  inside  out  and  wash  off  the  tip  in  a 
quart  fruit  jar  half  full  of  pond  water. 

Importance. — While  of  minute  size,  these  crustaceans  are 
exceedingly  abundant  and  of  large  economic  importance.  Lake 
Michigan  water  averages  about  five  to  the  quart,  and  they  may 
be  much  more  abundant  during  the  spring  maximum.  It  has 
been  estimated  that  then  a  million  Cyclops  are  found  in  a  square 
yard  of  surface  water  in  a  pond.  The  rate  of  reproduction  is  so 
very  rapid  that  a  single  Cyclops  might  easily  give  rise  to  a  billion 
progeny  in  one  year  under  favorable  conditions.  Other  minute 
animals  and  plants  are  equally  numerous ;  thus  Thompson  speaks 
of  finding  five  million  rotifers  to  the  square  yard  and  seven 
hundred  million  diatoms,  minute  plants,  in  a  similar  volume  of 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM  27 

lake  water,  while  Kofoid  found  in  the  water  in  the  main  channel 
of  the  Illinois  River  at  Urbana,  in  May,  a  million  animals  to  the 
quart  and  almost  five  million  organisms  of  all  kinds.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  while  these  animals  and  plants  are  very 
numerous  they  are  also  very  small,  so  that  they  make  up,  even 
when  most  abundant,  less  than  a  millionth  part  by  volume  of  the 
water  in  which  they  live.  Still  the  volume  of  water  in  lake  or 
river  is  so  great  that  many  tons  of  these  minute  organisms  pass 
downriver  daily.  This  floating  population  in  the  water,  known 
as  the  plankton,  is  the  ultimate  source  of  fish  food,  and  the 
Entomostraca  form  an  exceedingly  important  part  of  it.  Young 
fish  feed  quite  largely  on  such  forms  as  Cyclops,  Daphnia,  and 
Cypris.  These  also  are  the  food  of  the  larger  crustaceans,  like 
Gammarus  and  Asellus,  which  make  up  a  large  share  of  the 
dietary  of  the  larger  fish  of  the  small  streams  and  ponds. 

Movements  offish. — When  you  get  a  drop  of  water  under  the 
microscope  with  more  or  less  of  the  ooze  from  the  bottom  among 
which  these  Entomostraca  live  much  of  the  time,  you  realize  how 
prolific  of  life  nature  really  is.  Such  a  drop  is  a  veritable  ocean, 
often  with  hundreds  or  even  thousands  of  tiny  organisms  living 
their  lives  in  the  confines — diatoms,  bacteria,  protozoa  of  vari- 
ous types.  These  are  the  food  of  the  tiny  crustaceans  above 
described.  Like  Eubranchipus ,  most  of  these  crustaceans  are 
sensitive  to  light  and  their  location  is  determined  by  its  intensity. 
The  fish  must  follow  them  to  feed,  and  so  the  migrations  of  the 
fish  in  lake  and  river  depend  in  no  small  degree  on  the  where- 
abouts of  this  active  food  supply. 

Dragon  flies. — Spring  is  the  best  time  of  the  year  to  study  the 
life-history  of  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  insects,  the  dragon 
fly  (Fig.  15).  Surely  every  child  knows  these  iridescent  blue, 
green,  or  bronzed  insects,  with  rather  slender  bodies  and  gauzy 
wings,  that  hover  and  dart  over  the  ponds  like  flashes  of  jeweled 
light.  They  are  variously  called  devil's  darning  needle,  sew  flies, 
snake  doctors,  and  dragon  flies.  Children  have  a  vague  horror 
that  dragon  flies  can  sew  up  their  mouths  and  ears,  yet  they  are 


28         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

not  only  harmless  but  very  beneficial.  They  are  most  appro- 
priately called  mosquito  hawks,  for  they  feed  upon  mosquitoes 
and  small  flies  that  they  capture  upon  the  wing  and  eat  while 
flying.  Lying  in  the  grass,  above  which  a  dragon  fly  was 
hunting,  the  writer  counted  thirteen  flies  captured  and  eaten  in 
sixteen  minutes.  If  such  a  rate  is  maintained  through  a  working 
day  of  even  moderate  duration,  we  must  gratefully  acknowledge 
the  dragon  fly  as  an  ally  in  our  summer's  comfort. 

Life-history. — The  eggs  of  the  dragon  fly  are  laid  in  the  water. 
As  the  female  flies  slowly  over  the  pond  close  to  its  surface,  she 
repeatedly  dips  the  tip  of  her  abdomen  below  the  surface  and  sets 


FIG.  15.— A  dragon  fly,  a  pupil's  drawing 

the  eggs  free;  or,  in  other  species,  she  alights  upon  floating  weeds 
and  fastens  the  eggs  to  an  object  just  below  the  water  level. 
When  these  hatch  they  produce  a  band  of  masked  marauders 
that  must  be  bugaboos  to  all  the  small  pond  creatures.  By 
dredging  in  the  reeds  and  grasses  or  among  the  dead  leaves  at 
the  margin  of  the  pond,  these  young  of  the  dragon  fly  will  likely 
be  captured.  They  will  lie  stiffly  quiet  at  first,  among  the 
debris  in  the  net;  but  after  a  moment's  hesitation  they  try  to 
crawl  away  with  a  gait  that  reminds  one  of  a  turtle. 

The  nymph. — The  nymph,  as  the  young  is  termed,  is  mud- 
colored  in  a  common  species.     The  head  is  broad  and  angular, 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM  29 

with  prominent  eyes  and  short  feelers;  the  legs  are  strong  and 
stand  out  stiffly  from  the  edge  of  the  thorax,  and  the  abdomen  is 
broad  and  flattened.  Concealed  by  its  color,  the  animal  lies 
upon  the  muddy  bottom  awaiting  its  prey  until  some  unsuspect- 
ing creature  comes  swimming  by.  The  device  with  which  the 
victim  is  seized  is  very  interesting.  The  mouth  of  the  animal,  in 
fact  most  of  the  lower  part  of  the  head,  is  covered  by  a  pair  of 
strong,  light,  auxiliary  jaws,  carried  on  a  hinged  arm  that  is 
quickly  extensible.  It  is  this  arm  that  shoots  out  suddenly  so 
that  the  jaws  can  grasp  the  prey  and  return  it,  as  the  arm  folds 
back  in  place,  to  the  powerful  crushing  jaws  of  the  mouth. 

Molt  skins. — One  can  scarcely  visit  a  pond  in  the  latter  days 
of  spring  without  finding,  hung  upon  the  grass  and  reeds  along 
its  banks,  the  cast-off  garments  of  these  dragon-fly  nymphs. 
"For  all  the  world's  a  stage"  and  men  and  women  are  not  the 
only  players.  This  sedgy  margin  of  the  pond  is  the  dressing- 
room  where  our  masked  marauder  of  the  oozy  depths  changes  his 
dull  costume  for  the  resplendent  mail  of  that  rover,  the  dragon 
fly.  When  the  nymph  is  ready  for  its  final  molt  it  climbs  some 
stem,  crawls  out  above  the  water  upon  it,  and  there  splits  the 
old  suit  down  the  back  and  creeps  out  of  the  rent  (Fig.  16),  a 
limp  dragon  fly.  Sunlight  and  air  speedily  harden  its  armor,  its 
gossamer  wings  expand  and  stiffen,  and  it  flies  away  for  food. 
This  whole  process  may  readily  be  observed,  for  it  takes  but  a 
few  hours.  Put  a  few  of  the  large  nymphs  into  a  two-quart  jar 
half  filled  with  pond  water;  add  some  water  plants,  and  then  put 
in  a  stick  that  will  reach  above  the  water.  The  nymphs  will 
mount  this  as  they  prepare  to  transform.  The  dragon-fly  eggs 
deposited  one  summer  hatch  to  nymphs  that  grow  during  suc- 
cessive molts  and  finally  transform  to  the  adult  the  following 
spring  or  still  later  springs. 

Other  water  larvae. — The  dragon-fly  larva  is  a  type  of  a 
numerous  group  of  insect  larvae  that  are  found  leading  an 
aquatic  life  (Figs.  17  and  19).  The  damsel-fly  larvae  are  also 
abundant  in  the  debris  at  the  bottom  of  ponds.  Damsel  flies 


30         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

are  also  found  about  the  ponds  and  streams  and  have  much  the 
same  habits  as  the  dragon  flies,  but  they  are  smaller  and  weaker 
and  prey  upon  the  gnats  or  midges  rather  than  upon  the  larger 
flies.  At  rest,  the  dragon  fly  holds  its  wings  out  at  right  angles 
to  the  body,  while  the  damsel  fly  folds  its  wings  together  parallel 
to  the  body.  The  nymphs  are  slender  and  have  three  leaflike 
gills  at  the  end  of  the  abdomen.  Their  habits  are  much  like 
those  of  the  dragon-fly  nymphs. 


FIG.  16. — The  molt  skin  of  a  dragon-fly  nymph,  side  and  back  views 

The  May  fly. — In  the  same  situations  will  also  be  found  the 
nymphs  of  the  May  flies  (Fig.  iy&).  The  thoracic  segments  are 
fringed  with  gills  and  three  long  bristles  radiate  from  the  end  of  the 
abdomen.  They  are  easily  reared  in  a  quart  jar  that  has  some  pond 
mud  and  several  sprigs  of  water  plant  at  the  bottom.  Feed  them 
on  Entomostraca  or  small  water  insects.  In  the  jar  place  a  stick 
that  projects  out  of  the  water  and  cover  the  jar  with  mosquito 
net.  When  the  nymphs  are  mature  they  crawl  up  the  stick  and 
undergo  the  transformation  to  the  adult  fly,  a  familiar  animal 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM 


FIG.  17. — Some  aquatic  insects  and  nymphs  (after  Alice) :  a,  stone-fly  nymph; 
b,  May-fly  nymph;  c,  whirligig-beetle  larva;  d,  black-fly  larva;  e,  damsel-fly 
nymph;  /,  water  tiger;  g,  larva  of  water  scavenger;  h,  the  dobson;  i,  diving 
beetle;  /,  giant  water  bug;  k,  smaller  water  bug;  I,  water-scavenger  beetle. 


32         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


with  gauzy  wings,  fragile  body,  and  the  three  long  bristles  still 
adorning  the  tail.  They  often  swarm  about  lamps  and  electric 
lights  on  warm  spring  evenings  and  may  be  so  numerous  as  to 
be  a  pest,  occasionally  coming  in  clouds.  They  are  short-lived, 
and  the  dead  bodies  accumulate  so  that  the  sidewalks  and 
porches  are  buried  under  drifts  of  them  that  must  be  swept  off 
like  snow. 

The  stone  fly. —The  stone  fly  (Fig.  170)  also  begins  as  a  com- 
mon nymph  with  bristles  at  the  end  of  the  abdomen.  There  are 
only  two  bristles,  however,  and  the  gills  are  in  tufts  at  the  base  of 
the  legs.  They  refuse  stagnant  water  and  seek  the  under  surfaces 
of  the  rocks  that  are  found  in  the  shallow  rapids  of  the  brooks. 

As  they  are  very  active  and 
hide  themselves  quickly 
when  disturbed,  the  col- 
lector must  suddenly  pick 
up  the  stone  from  the 
water,  turn  it  over  and 
brush  the  nymphs  off  into 
a  pint  jar  containing  some 
water.  Keep  them  in  shal- 
low water  while  watching 


FIG.  18. — Larva  and  larval  case  of  caddis 
fly;  below,  the  adult  caddis  fly;  both  are  a 
pupil's  drawings. 


them.  It  is  just  as  well 
not  to  take  them  home,  for 
they  will  live  only  in  running  water.  The  adults  will  be  found  on 
the  rocks,  the  tree  trunks,  and  the  overhanging  leaves.  They 
are  grayish  insects,  one-half  to  two  inches  long,  with  large  wings 
conspicuously  net- veined.  The  underwings  are  the  larger  and 
are  much  folded  when  the  insect  is  at  rest. 

The  caddis  fly. — Of  all  aquatic  larvae  the  most  remarkable  one 
is  that  constructor  of  curious  log  cabins  and  stone  houses,  the 
larva  of  the  caddis  fly  (Fig.  18).  Sweeping  with  the  net  in  both 
streams  and  ponds  will  bring  to  the  surface  numerous  repre- 
sentatives of  this  group.  The  house  is  an  open  tube,  usually 
straight,  sometimes  curved  or  even  coiled.  Some  sorts  adopt 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM  33 

a  length  of  hollow  reed  for  habitation ;  others  fasten  bits  of  stick 
and  twig  together  by  means  of  silk;  while  still  others  cement  bits 
of  stone  into  very  perfect  mosaics,  and  so  form  a  protective 
covering.  The  larva  carries  his  house  about  with  him  and  when 
disturbed  safely  withdraws  into  it.  Hold  one  of  these  inhabited 
tubes  on  your  hand  for  a  moment  and  soon  the  animal  will  poke 
his  head  and  legs  out,  cognizant  that  his  customary  watery 
environment  is  changed.  The  larva  feeds  on  aquatic  plants, 
and  as  it  increases  in  size  it  enlarges  its  dwelling  or  adopts  a  new 
one.  When  ready  for  its  final  transformation  it  retires  into  its 
tube,  builds  a  door  to  keep  out  intruders,  and  undergoes  its  last 
molt.  It  then  leaves  its  house,  crawls  out  of  the  water  on  some 
projecting  stone  or  stick,  and  suddenly  unfurling  its  wings  flies 
away.  The  adult  is  a  mothlike  fly;  the  hairy  wings  are  veined 
with  many  longitudinal  but  with  few  cross-veins,  and  are  held 
close  to  the  body  when  at  rest,  making  a  covering  like  a  high- 
peaked  roof. 

The  dobson. — Among  the  rocks  in  the  stream  where  stone-fly 
and  May-fly  nymphs  are  found  is  another  predatory  larva  that 
feeds  on  them — the  dobson  (Fig.  17 A).  It  is  the  larva  of  the 
horned  Corydalis  and  has  the  distinction  of  a  name  all  its  own, 
largely  because  it  is  a  fisherman's  favorite  for  bass  bait.  It  is 
a  large  larva  when  full  grown,  about  two  inches  long.  The  head 
is  provided  with  conspicuous,  strong  jaws.  Each  segment  of 
the  abdomen  bears  a  pair  of  long  gill-like  appendages  and  tufts 
of  smaller  gills.  The  adult  is  a  large  insect,  four  or  five  inches 
long,  with  long  antennae,  bulging  eyes,  and  in  the  male  long, 
sickle-like  jaws.  The  wings  are  gauzy,  like  those  of  a  fly,  but 
proportionately  larger.  It  is  attracted  to  electric  lights  at  night 
and  often  captured. 

The  water  tiger. — Quite  as  formidable  to  water  creatures  as  this 
dobson  is  the  larva  of  the  diving  beetle  known  as  the  water  tiger 
(Fig.  iy/).  It,  too,  has  a  big  head  armed  with  large  jaws,  but  it 
does  not  have  the  gills  on  the  abdomen.  It  is  often  captured 
among  the  dead  leaves  and  aquatic  vegetation  near  shore,  for 


34         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

in  such  aquatic  jungles  it  hunts  its  prey,  and  almost  every  small 
living  thing  is  food  for  this,  the  fiercest  rover  of  the  weedy  shores. 
The  adult  beetle  (Fig.  190)  is  oval  three-quarters  of  an  inch  long, 
and  is  black  with  a  yellow  border.  The  hind  legs  are  fringed  so 
as  to  make  efficient  paddles.  He  hangs  head  down  from  the 
surface  of  the  pool,  the  tip  of  the  abdomen  being  out  of  water  so 
that  he  may  get  air.  When  he  goes  under  the  water,  diving  to 
hide  or  to  capture  food,  a  silvery  bubble  of  air  is  seen  sticking  out 
from  under  his  wing  covers  as  he  takes  his  temporary  air  supply 
with  him.  He  must  frequently  come  to  the  surface  to  renew 
this  air  supply,  like  a  submarine. 

The  water  scavenger. — Along  with  the  diving  beetle  and  its 
larva  are  to  be  found  the  water-scavenger  beetle  and  its  larva 
(Fig.  lyg).  Their  feeding  habits  are  much  the  same.  The  adult 
beetle  is  also  a  black  beetle  like  the  diving  beetle,  but  has  no 
yellow  border.  It  often  comes  to  the  surface,  but  comes  head 
up  instead  of  backward.  The  diving  beetle  uses  its  swimming 
legs  like  oars,  striking  out  at  the  same  time  with  both,  while  the 
water  scavenger  uses  its  legs  alternately.  The  larva  of  the  water 
scavenger  is  plumper  than  the  water  tiger,  but  its  head  is  rela- 
tively smaller  and  its  legs  are  much  weaker. 

The  money  bug. — Every  frequenter  of  the  ponds  and  brooks 
comes  to  know,  as  one  of  his  first  acquaintances,  a  shining  black 
beetle  that  goes  whirling  in  erratic  curves  upon  the  surface  of  the 
water.  He  is  called  the  whirligig  beetle  or  money  bug  (Fig.  ijc). 
In  New  England  the  belief  obtains  that  if  you  can  catch  one  in 
your  hand  you  will  soon  have  money  in  it.  The  larva  of  the 
whirligig  might  be  mistaken  at  first  sight  for  a  young  dobson,  for 
he  has  quite  similar  fringed  gill  plates  on  the  sides  of  each  seg- 
ment. These,  however,  are  simple,  while  the  dobson  has  both 
the  long  and  the  short  kinds.  This  larva  is  much  more  slender, 
and  the  head  is  relatively  small  and  weak.  Both  larva  and  adult 
feed  upon  smaller  animals. 

The  mosquito. — One  need  not  go  to  ponds  to  find  the  larvae 
of  the  mosquito  (Fig.  196),  for  the  rain  barrel  or  any  pail  of  water 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM 


35 


FIG.  19.— Aquatic  insects  and  nymphs  (after  Alice):  a,  adult  mosquito; 
ft,  its  larva;  c,  its  pupa;  d,  water  skater;  e,  mirsh  strider;  /,  whirligig  beetle; 
g,  water  scorpion;  h,  water  boatman;  it  back  swimmer. 


36          SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

that  has  been  standing  some  time  may  be  swarming  with  them ; 
indeed  they  may  be  found  in  almost  any  stagnant  water.  The 
larvae  are  commonly  known  as  wrigglers  and  well  deserve  the 
name,  for  they  swim  by  a  series  of  contortions,  first  throwing  the 
body  into  an  S-shaped  form  and  then  doubling  back  both  ends 
so  as  to  reverse  the  figure.  The  larva,  when  resting,  hangs  head 
down,  suspended  from  the  surface  film,  with  only  the  tip  of  its 
breathing  tube  above  the  water.  After  several  molts  the  larva 
changes  into  a  pupa — a  comma- shaped  form  with  large  head  and 
big  eyespots.  It  floats  head  up,  and  the  respiratory  tube  now 
projects  from  the  top  of  the  head.  Finally  the  pupa  skin  splits 
and  the  adult  insect  crawls  out,  often  standing  on  its  floating 
pupal  skin  while  its  wings  expand  and  harden. 

Mosquito  extermination. — In  the  extermination  of  the  mos- 
quito advantage  is  taken  of  its  need  of  water  for  a  breeding  place 
and  the  necessity  of  coming  to  the  surface  to  breathe  both  in  the 
larval  and  pupal  stages.  All  receptacles  in  which  standing  water 
might  accumulate  and  afford  breeding  places  are  either  emptied 
or  screened.  Swamps  and  ditches  are  drained  where  possible, 
and  on  such  as  cannot  be  drained  ordinary  coal  oil  or  petroleum 
is  sprayed.  This  spreads  promptly  over  the  surface,  forming  a 
thin  film  of  such  tenacity  that  the  larvae  cannot  get  the  breathing 
tube  through  it  and  so  promptly  smother.  It  makes  an  instruct- 
ive schoolroom  demonstration  to  put  a  number  of  the  larvae 
in  each  of  two  quart  jars  half  full  of  water,  to  one  of  which  is 
added  two  drops  of  kerosene.  In  a  very  few  minutes  the  larvae 
in  the  one  jar  are  dead;  in  the  other  they  are  still  lively  as  ever. 
Now  if  darters,  young  bass,  or  minnows  are  available,  put  one  in 
the  jar  with  the  living  larvae  and  see  how  promptly  the  latter 
disappear,  for  they  are  choice  morsels  for  fish. 

Applying  oil. — In  applying  the  kerosene  oil  to  small  pools, 
cisterns,  or  rain  barrels,  it  may  be  thrown  on  with  a  dipper,  but 
it  must  be  sprayed  on  larger  ponds  or  streams.  A  pint  of  oil 
will  efficiently  cover  twenty-five  square  yards  of  pond  surface, 
but  since  the  oil  is  washed  away  by  waves  and  driven  ashore  by 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM  37 

the  wind,  it  must  often  be  renewed.  The  life-history  of  our 
common  mosquito,  Culex,  runs  its  course  from  egg  to  adult  in 
about  two  weeks,  so  that  if  one  lot  of  larvae  and  pupae  are  killed 
by  the  oiling,  another  may  be  ready  to  begin  hatching  two  weeks 
later.  The  spraying  must  continue,  therefore,  at  intervals  of 
two  to  three  weeks  during  spring  and  summer  to  insure  against 
the  mosquitoes.  A  single  spring  application  will,  however,  give 
enormous  relief. 

Other  fly  larvae. — The  larvae  of  the  harlequin  fly,  or  Chirono- 
mus,  are  also  conspicuous  in  temporary  as  well  as  in  permanent 
ponds.  They  are  blood-red  wrigglers  usually  called  bloodworms. 
When  full-grown  they  are  perhaps  three-quarters  of  an  inch  long 
and  about  as  large  around  as  a  coarse  pin.  They  live  in  the 
decomposing  leaves  and  slime  at  the  pond's  bottom  and  may  be 
dredged  up  with  the  net.  When  placed  in  jars  of  water  they  will 
make  their  crude  tubes,  if  some  dead  leaves  and  debris  are 
provided,  and  will  readily  grow  in  confinement.  They  finally 
transform  into  midges  that  look  much  like  mosquitoes,  and  are 
very  common  in  the  early  spring. 

The  black  fly. — Any  fisherman  of  the  streams  feels  quite 
certain  that  the  black  fly,  more  pestiferous  than  the  mosquito, 
breeds  in  countless  hordes  near  the  haunts  of  trout  and  bass, 
and  so  he  does.  On  the  stones  in  the  rapids  where  the  stone 
fly  is  found  so  commonly  may  often  be  found  also  clusters  of 
black,  squirming,  wormlike  creatures,  attached  by  one  end  and 
reaching  out  into  the  surrounding  water  for  food  with  the  brushes 
and  bristles  that  are  found  on  the  free  end.  These  are  the  larvae 
(Fig.  i  yd) .  They  stick  to  the  rock  with  much  tenacity,  but  if  one 
should  be  washed  off  by  a  sudden  rush  of  the  water  it  spins,  as  it 
goes,  a  tiny  strand  of  silk,  one  end  of  which  is  still  attached  to 
the  rock.  The  larva  can  reel  in  this  silken  line  and  so  bring  itself 
back  to  its  original  location. 

Water  bugs. — The  water  strider  (Fig.  ipd),  or  water  skater, 
walks  on  water  as  if  it  were  solid  ground.  It  is  an  insect  with  a 
long,  oval  body  and  long,  spider-like  legs.  The  second  and  third. 


38         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

pairs  of  legs  are  tipped  with  hairs  that  spread  the  weight  of  the 
insect  over  quite  an  area  of  surface  film,  and  the  reflection  of  the 
depression  caused  by  the  weight  of  these  "feet"  makes  it  appear 
that  the  insect  is  carrying  a  boat  on  each  foot.  His  first  pair  of 
legs  grasps  his  prey — flies  and  other  insects — and  holds  the 
captive  while  its  body  is  pierced  with  a  sharp  sucking-tube  and 
the  body  juices  drawn  out.  The  young  are  like  the  adults,  only 
smaller.  To  capture  these  insects  the  net  must  be  swept  rapidly 
along  just  skimming  the  surface,  and  probably  several  trials 
must  be  made,  for  the  animal  moves  with  rapidity  and  dodges 
well.  If  the  net  is  shallow  the  skaters  can  easily  jump  out. 
They  may  be  kept  in  the  aquarium,  which  must  be  covered  unless 
deep,  and  may  be  fed  on  flies  or  other  small  insects  thrown  on 
the  surface. 

The  water  scorpion. — The  water  scorpion  (Fig.  igg)  is  the 
aquatic  equivalent  of  the  walking-stick.  It  is  a  long,  slender 
insect  with  long  legs  and  long  breathing-tubes  at  the  end  of 
the  abdomen.  It  is  dirty  brown  in  color,  and  when  standing 
on  the  stem  of  some  aquatic  plant  or  on  the  bottom  among  the 
debris  it  harmonizes  so  well  in  shape  and  color  with  the  objects 
about  it  that  it  is  well-nigh  invisible.  These  insects  live  in  the 
quieter  parts  of  streams  and  ponds  and  may  sometimes  be  taken 
in  numbers.  One  sweep  of  the  net  into  a  cavity  under  an  over- 
hanging bank  brought  up  several  dozen  of  these  curious  animals. 
Ordinarily  they  take  up  positions  on  stems  or  on  the  bottom  such 
that  the  breathing-tubes  can  reach  up  to  the  surface  of  the  water. 
While  comfortably  breathing  they  keep  a  sharp  lookout  for 
passing  small  animals,  which  they  seize  with  their  front  legs  and 
pierce  with  the  sucking-tube  that  is  so  common  in  these  predatory 
pond  bugs. 

The  water  boatman. — There  are  two  strong  swimmers  to  be 
met  with  in  almost  every  pond  and  stream,  the  water  boatman 
and  the  back  swimmer  (Figs,  i gh,  i) .  As  they  swim  their  hind  legs 
are  held  out  stiffly  from  the  body  like  the  oars  of  a  boat,  and  beat 
the  water  with  rapid  strokes  as  they  propel  the  insects.  Both 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM  39 

are  brownish  animals  when  seen  swimming,  but  when  taken  from 
the  water  the  back  swimmer  turns  right  side  up  and  shows  a 
creamy  white  back  as  he  tries  to  jump.  The  adult  of  these 
animals  is  about  one-half  inch  long;  the  young  are  much  like 
adults  in  appearance,  only  smaller.  They  may  be  readily  kept  in 
the  aquarium,  which  must  be  covered,  else  they  fly  out;  and  they 
may  be  fed  with  flies  dropped  on  the  surface. 

The  giant  water  bug. — The  giant  water  bug  (Fig.  177)  is  more 
likely  to  be  met  under  some  electric  light  on  warm  May  nights 
than  he  is  to  be  found  in  the  ponds  where  he  lives  most  of  the 
time.  Like  many  of  the  aquatic  insects,  the  animal  leaves  its 
pond  home  at  the  mating  season  and  flies  about  to  seek  its  mate. 
These  insects  are  attracted  by  bright  lights  and  are  sometimes 
found  near  them  in  numbers.  The  animal  is  about  two  inches 
long  and  is  so  large  that  the  characteristics  of  the  group  of 
Hemiptera  to  which  it  belongs  are  plainly  seen.  The  hard  part 
of  the  outer  wings  is  separated  from  the  membranous  part  by  a 
zigzag  line.  The  mouth  parts  are  grouped  so  as  to  form  a 
sucking-tube,  by  means  of  which  the  animal  feeds. 

The  nymph  of  the  giant  water  bug  is  very  like  the  adult  but 
smaller,  and  is  found  among  water  weeds  and  bottom  debris 
hunting  its  food.  It  attacks  other  water  insects,  tadpoles,  small 
fish,  or  almost  any  small  animal.  It  holds  the  prey  with  the 
forward  legs,  which  are  provided  with  hooked  claws,  and  sucks 
the  body  fluids.  The  nymph  must  not  therefore  be  put  into  the 
aquarium  with  other  animals  unless  they  are  to  be  sacrificed  to 
its  voracity.  There  is  a  smaller  relative  of  this  big  bug,  the 
smaller  water  bug,  which  has  very  similar  habits  and  may  be 
encountered  in  similar  situations. 

Breathing  in  water. — When  air-breathing  animals  like  the 
insects  "take  to  the  water "  they  meet  quite  unaccustomed 
problems,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  in  what  varied  ways  they 
have  solved  the  problem  of  breathing.  Insects  breathe  by  means 
of  tracheal  tubes  that  carry  the  air  from  the  many  pores  or 
spiracles  on  the  surface  to  every  part  of  the  body.  A  grasshopper 


40         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

cannot  be  drowned  by  holding  its  head  under  water  because  he 
breathes  through  pores  all  along  his  thorax  and  abdomen,  and 
not  through  mouth  or  nose.  Water  insects,  however,  go  under 
water  and  stay  under  for  long  periods  without  drowning  because 
they  possess  devices  for  carrying  air  with  them.  The  water 
scorpion  has  a  long  air  tube  at  the  tip  of  his  abdomen  which  he 
sticks  up  to  the  surface  precisely  as  the  deep-sea  diver  gets  his 
air  by  a  tube  opening  above  the  surface.  The  diving  beetle, 
water  scavenger,  back  swimmer,  and  others  stick  the  tip  of  the 
abdomen  above  the  surface  of  the  water  and  take  in  a  supply  of 
air  under  the  wing  covers,  or  entangle  it  in  the  hair  of  body  or 
wings.  When  they  go  under  the  light  is  reflected  from  this  air, 
making  them  appear  silver-coated.  When  the  supply  is 
exhausted  they  must  come  to  the  surface  again  to  renew  it. 

Insect  gills. — Nymphs  and  larvae  as  a  rule  have  met  the 
situation  by  the  development  of  tracheal  gills,  a  kind  found 
nowhere  else  in  the  animal  world.  In  a  tadpole,  for  instance,  the 
gills  are  full  of  blood  vessels  and  the  supply  of  oxygen  is  taken 
up  by  the  blood  to  be  carried  to  all  parts  of  the  body  where 
needed.  In  the  tufts  of  gills  on  the  sides  of  the  abdomen  on 
stone-fly  or  water-scavenger  larva  the  oxygen  is  taken  out  of  the 
water  into  tracheal  or  air  tubes.  In  the  damsel  fly  the  gills  are 
not  tufts  or  threads,  but  are  plates  carried  at  the  end  of  the 
abdomen.  The  dragon-fly  larva  draws  the  water  into  the  hind 
end  of  its  digestive  tract,  the  walls  of  which  are  so  full  of  fine 
tracheal  tubes  that  it  serves  as  a  breathing  chamber.  This 
chamber  has  muscular  walls  so  that  the  water  can  be  ejected 
forcibly,  driving  the  animal  ahead  with  a  jerk,  so  it  may  escape 
its  enemies. 

The  diving  spider. — But  most  wonderful  of  all  these  adapta- 
tions of  air-breathing  animals  to  the  conditions  of  life  in  the 
water  are  those  manifested  in  the  diving  spider  (Fig.  20) .  There 
are  several  spiders  that  run  on  the  surface  quite  as  well  as  the 
water  strider,  and  so  capture  their  food.  This  is  a  distinct 
advantage,  for  most  spiders  cannot  do  this,  and  when  a  spider  of 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM 


a  certain  sort  can  accomplish  the  feat  it  opens  up  to  him  and  his 
immediate  kind  an  extensive  territory  for  foraging  in  which  there 
is  little  or  no  competition.  So,  too,  the  insects  that  have  taken 
to  the  water  have  comparatively  easy  living.  They  have  largely 
escaped  the  enemies  of  their  land-living  relatives,  and  they  have 
come  to  live  in  a  world  exploited  by  relatively  few  of  the  insect 
kind. 

This  diving  spider  carries  down  with  it,  entangled  in  the  hairs 
of  its  abdomen,  a  bountiful  supply  of  air  that  silvers  its  surface 
like  a  large  drop  of  quicksilver.  When 
this  air  is  used  up,  in  its  chase  under 
water  for  food,  it  comes  to  the  surface 
for  a  new  supply.  Its  nest,  too,  is 
built  under  water.  A  bell-shaped 
silken  tent  is  spun  in  the  branches  of 
some  aquatic  plant  and  there  the  eggs 
are  laid.  This  bell  is  kept  full  of  air 
brought  down  in  bubbles  and  released 
under  the  bell,  the  mouth  of  which 
is  turned  down.  As  the  young  hatch 
out  they  thus  have  plenty  of  air  to 
breathe,  for  the  supply  is  kept  up  by 
frequent  journeys  to  the  surface  on 
the  part  of  the  parent  spider  until  the 
young  are  old  enough  to  make  the 
journey  for  themselves.  This  whole 
process  may  be  watched  in  the  aquarium  if  Dolomedes  is  kept  in 
one  that  is  covered  with  mosquito  net  and  supplied  with  plenty 
of  flies  frequently  dropped  on  the  surface. 

The  surface  film. — We  have  referred  above  to  the  surface 
film  of  water  on  which  water  skaters  and  water  spiders  run  just 
as  an  agile  skater  glides  along  on  rubber  ice.  We  do  not  ordi- 
narily realize  that  there  is  any  film  on  the  top  of  a  liquid 
that  has  enough  tenacity  to  act  as  a  support  even  for  these  fairy- 
footed  insects,  but  it  may  be  easily  demonstrated,  (i)  Hold 


FIG.  20. — The  diving  spider, 
Dolomedes  sexpunctatus  (after 
Shelford). 


SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


a  fine  needle  horizontally  between  thumb  and  finger  as  near 
the  surface  as  possible  of  a  tumbler  full  of  water,  and  then  drop 
it  on  the  water.  If  it  strikes  full  length  on  the  film,  it  floats. 
(2)  Fill  a  glass  with  water  and  then  with  a  medicine  dropper  add 
more  water.  Can  it  be  heaped  up  ?  Notice  the  shape  of  the 
surface  of  the  water.  (3)  Make  of  fine  wire,  a  cork,  and  a  screw 
a  piece  of  apparatus  like  Fig.  21.  It  is  called  a  Mensbriigghe 
float.  The  circle  of  wire  must  be  horizontal  and  must  have  no 
free  sharp  ends  of  wire.  The  screw  must  be  shoved  in  or  drawn 
out  until  the  large  end  of  the  cork  is  flush  with  the  surface  of  the 
water  when  the  apparatus  floats.  With  a  pencil  placed  on  the 
big  end  of  the  cork  shove  the  whole  float  under  water  and 

then  release  it.    Why  does  it 
take  the  new  position  ? 

Frogs. — Among  the  voices  of 
early  spring  none  seems  more 
welcome  than  the  peep  of  the 
toad  or  the  croak  of  the  frog. 
Later,  when  the  birds  have 
arrived  in  force  and  the  air  is 
a-tremble  with  their  love  songs, 
these  coarser  notes  that  come 
from  the  ponds  are  discordant,  but  when  the  snows  are  scarcely 
melted  and  the  crisp  mornings  show  a  rim  of  ice  about  the 
roadside  puddles,  then  the  frogs'  chorus  is  pleasing  music  to  our 
expectant  ears. 

Eggs. — No  more  interesting  objects  can  be  added  to  the 
aquarium  than  the  eggs  of  some  of  the  frogs  or  toads.  With  net 
and  collecting  jar  or  bucket  one  may  explore  the  shallow  ponds 
for  the  eggs.  The  frogs'  eggs  are  little  spheres,  a  sixteenth  of  an 
inch  or  so  in  diameter,  half  black,  half  light,  and  each  is  inclosed 
in  a  spherule  of  transparent  jelly.  The  eggs  are  laid  in  clusters 
so  that  the  jelly  forms  a  mass  from  about  the  size  of  a  hen's  egg 
to  that  of  a  quart  bowl,  and  the  clusters  are  usually  found  in  a 
small  area,  where  many  frogs  have  congregated  to  deposit  their 


FIG.  21. — The  Mensbriigghe  float 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM  43 

eggs,  so  that  one  may  find  a  half-bushel  of  egg  masses  at  a  single 
spot.  The  place  chosen  for  depositing  the  eggs  is  one  where 
numerous  grass  stalks  or  small  twigs  are  so  abundant  that  when 
the  egg  masses  are  attached  to  them  they  will  hold  the  eggs  near 
the  surface  of  the  water.  The  egg  masses  may  often  be  reached 
with  the  net  from  the  margin  of  the  pond,  though  it  will  at  times 
be  necessary  to  employ  a  raft  or  wading  boots  to  reach  the 
desired  spot. 

If  the  frogs  have  all  ceased  laying  before  the  supply  of  eggs  is 
secured,  the  toad's  eggs  may  be  used  equally  well.  The  common 
garden  toad,  though  a  landlubber  most  of  the  year,  takes  to  the 
water  to  lay  its  eggs.  These  are  deposited  in  jelly  ropes  instead 
of  masses  and  are  found,  lodged  by  the  current,  upon  the  grass 
or  twigs  along  the  margins  of  small  streams. 

Development. — Whether  observing  frogs'  eggs  or  toads'  eggs, 
the  stages  of  development  visible  to  the  unaided  eye  will  be 
much  the  same  (Fig.  22).  When  found  in  the  pond  or  stream, 
the  eggs  are  floating  in  the  jelly  with  the  black  half  uppermost. 
You  will  readily  discover  one  use  for  this,  gelatinous  envelope 
if  you  can  think  why  a  hotbed  is  covered  with  glass.  Just  as  we 
like  chickens'  eggs  to  eat,  young  fish  and  birds  like  frogs'  eggs, 
and  the  sticky,  disagreeable  jelly  is  a  protection.  The  eggs  float 
dark  side  up  so  as  to  absorb  the  sun's  heat,  just  as  one  wears  a 
black  dress  in  winter  because  it  is  warmer  than  a  light  one.  The 
dark  color  matches  the  color  of  the  bottom  of  the  pond  where  the 
eggs  are  found  and  thus  keen-eyed  birds  do  not  readily  see 
them.  The  light  underside  renders  them  invisible  to  the  fish 
living  in  the  pond  and  looking  up  through  the  water  at  the 
floating  eggs. 

When  the  eggs  are  found,  look  over  the  clusters,  taking  them 
up  in  your  hand,  and  select  for  the  aquarium  those  that  show 
equal  parts  of  dark  and  light,  with  a  single  dark  line  crossing  the 
light  half.  As  the  eggs  are  laid  early  in  the  morning,  it  is  best 
to  go  to  the  pond  as  early  as  possible  in  order  to  get  the  eggs 
before  they  have  passed  the  first  stages,  A  single  cluster  of  the 


FIG.  22. — Development  of  the  frog's  egg:  a,  the  two-celled  stage,  left-hand 
egg,  side  view;  right,  seen  from  animal  pole;  b,  four-celled;  c,  eight-celled;  d-g, 
continued  division;  A,  right-hand,  view  from  lower  pole;  left-hand,  side  view  of 
same;  i,  later  from  same;  j,  k,  I,  three  views  of  forming  nervous  system,  side 
back,  and  head  end:  m,  embryo  well  developed. 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM  45 

frogs'  eggs  or  a  chain  of  .the  toads'  eggs  may  be  carried  back  in 
some  water  in  the  quart  fruit  jar  and  placed  in  the  aquarium,  so 
that  the  development  of  the  tadpoles  may  be  watched. 

The  first  stages. — Each  egg  has  a  dark  and  light  hemisphere, 
and  the  boundary  line  between  these  may  be  considered  the  egg's 
equator;  then  the  centers  of  the  dark  and  light  hemispheres 
would  be  the  poles.  The  first  division  plane  passes  through  the 
poles.  This  line  of  division  has  already  been  noted  as  the  dark 
line  crossing  the  light  hemisphere  (Fig.  22).  The  two  parts 
formed  by  this  first  division  remain  in  intimate  contact  and 
soon  divide  again  in  a  plane  passing  through  the  poles  at  right 
angles  to  the  first  plane.  A  third  plane  of  division  shortly 
passes  above  the  equator  and  parallel  to  it,  thus  dividing  the 
egg  into  eight  parts  or  cells.  Thus  the  division  goes  on,  rapidly 
if  the  eggs  are  where  it  is  warm,  slowly  if  they  are  cool.  It  will 
be  noted,  however,  that  the  cells  form  on  the  upper  or  black 
pole  much  more  rapidly  than  on  the  lower  or  light  pole,  so  that 
within  a  few  hours  the  black  part  seems  to  be  overgrowing  the 
white  and  almost  covers  it. 

Long  before  this  occurs  the  continually  dividing  cells  have 
come  to  be  too  small  to  be  seen  without  a  microscope,  but  we  may 
still  observe  the  gross  changes.  Soon  the  mass  of  tiny  cells  elon- 
gates and  assumes  much  the  shape  of  a  common  football.  On 
one  side  of  this  is  a  tiny  groove,  marked  by  a  dark  streak  that 
runs  from  end  to  end;  this  is  the  forming  spinal  cord.  One  end 
of  the  football-shaped  mass  enlarges  and  the  head  roughly 
assumes  shape.  The  little  tadpole  now  begins  to  wiggle  within 
its  jelly  covering,  and  before  long  it  wiggles  itself  free  and  finds 
that  it  can  swim  clumsily.  It  does  not  swim  away  at  once, 
however.  The  underside  of  the  head,  where  the  mouth  will  in 
time  appear,  is  provided  with  a  sucking-disk  by  means  of  which 
the  tadpole  attaches  itself  to  some  twig  or  stone  or  to  the  side  of 
the  aquarium.  Here  it  hangs  for  several  hours  while  it  grows, 
but  when  the  mouth  has  developed  it  swims  away  and  begins  to 
feed. 


46         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Tadpole  transformation. — The  tadpoles  feed  on  plants  found 
growing  in  the  water  and  on  organic  refuse.  Bits  of  stick  and 
stones  covered  with  green  slime  may  be  put  into  the  aquarium  as 
food  for  the  growing  tadpoles.  Place  a  brick  or  flat  stone  in  the 
aquarium  so  that  one  end  of  it  will  be  above  water  and  so  there 
will  be  a  gentle  slope  into  the  water  toward  the  other  end.  Such 
a  surface,  on  which  the  tadpoles  may  lie,  seems  essential  to  their 
development  in  their  later  stages.  Some  of  the  species  require 


FJG.  23.— The  bullfrog 

several  years  to  grow  into  the  adult  condition ;  others  will  begin 
their  transformations  quite  promptly.  In  these  the  gills  soon 
appear  which  are  later  resorbed,  as  is  also  the  tail.  Hind  legs 
and  forelegs  appear  and  the  tadpole  has  changed  into  a  frog. 
When  the  tadpole  changes  to  the  adult  frog  it  becomes  insec- 
tivorous. As  it  will  be  a  difficult  task  to  supply  the  frogs  with 
insects  in  quantity,  it  will  be  well  to  turn  the  partly  grown  frogs 
loose  to  forage  for  themselves. 

Rapid  multiplication. — How  many  eggs  are  there  in  a  single 
bunch  or  in  a  single  string  of  toads'  eggs  ?     Remember  that  these 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM  47 

are  all  the  product  of  one  female.  If  every  egg  reached  the  adult 
stage  and  half  the  adults  were  females,  how  many  eggs  would  be 
laid  the  next  breeding  season  ?  If  it  took  two  years  for  the  adult 
frog  to  develop  from  the  egg,  how  long  would  it  be  before  there 
would  be  a  frog  for  every  square  inch  of  land  surface  on  the 
earth  ?  Here  is  an  opportunity  for  upper-grade  pupils  to  figure 
out  a  surprising  result.  They  will  probably  conclude  that  it  is 
fortunate  that  eggs  and  tadpoles  are  thought  good  eating  by 
many  animals. 

Kinds  of  frogs. — There  are  a  number  of  frogs  found  in  the 
United  States,  but  the  ones  having  the  widest  distribution  and 


FIG.  24. — The  pickerel  frog 

those  most  frequently  met  with  are  the  bullfrog,  the  spring  frog, 
the  green  frog,  the  pickerel  frog,  the  wood  frog,  and  the  little 
cricket  frog.  The  bullfrog  is  by  all  means  the  largest  one  of  the 
tribe  and  often  measures  a  foot  from  the  tip  of  his  snout  to  the 
end  of  the  outstretched  legs  (Fig.  23).  The  large  eardrums  just 
back  of  his  eyes  are  also  characteristic  of  this  animal,  for  though 
othor  frogs  have  similar  eardrums,  none  are  as  conspicuous  or 
large  as  those  of  the  bullfrog.  The  animal  gets  its  name  from  its 
voice,  which  sounds  like  the  roar  of  a  maddened  bull. 

The  spring  frog  is  about  three  inches  in  length.  The  back 
is  green,  marked  with  black  spots,  and  the  underside  is  white. 
The  green  frog  is  also  green,  but  his  belly  is  yellow  instead  of 


48         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

white  and  he  is  marked  with  black  blotches  above.  The  pickerle 
frog  (Fig.  24)  is  light  brown  in  color  and  is  marked  above  with 
two  rows  of  dark  brown,  rather  square,  blotches,  framed  with 
lighter  brown.  The  wood  frog  is  brown,  but  has  a  broad  black 
band  running  back  from  the  snout  along  each  side  of  the  head 
(Fig.  25).  The  cricket  frog  is  a  tiny  frog  and  is  one  of  the 
conspicuous  musicians  of  early  spring,  for  his  cricket-like  trill  is 
one  of  the  notes  that  make  the  pond  vibrate  with  spring  music. 
The  tree  frogs  are  all  small,  and  all  of  them  have  disklike  pads 
on  the  tips  of  the  toes  (Fig.  26).  Like  the  wood  frogs,  they  are 
to  be  found  in  the  water  only  in  the  spring,  and  later  they  live 

on  rushes  and  in  trees,  the  trunks 
and  limbs  of  which  they  climb 
readily  by  means  of  the  adherent 
disks. 

Toads. — The  toad  is  a  much 
maligned  animal,  for  he  is  en- 
tirely harmless  and  does  not 

make  warts  if  handled.     While 
FIG.  25. — The  wood  frog 

he  is  ugly  in  appearance  he  is  a 

very  valuable  animal,  eating,  as  do  the  frogs,  multitudes  of 
insects.  It  is  well  worth  while  to  provide  holes  for  the  toads 
in  the  garden.  Scoop  out  a  hollow  and  partly  cover  it  with  a 
board,  or  provide  several  such  retreats  and  they  are  likely  to  be 
occupied  by  guardian  toads  whose  nightly  hunting  expeditions 
will  help  very  much  in  keeping  the  garden  free  from  cutworms, 
slugs,  and  the  various  insect  pests  which  are  very  troublesome. 
Frogs  and  toads  make  interesting  animals  to  keep  for  a  while 
in  the  schoolroom.  An  aquarium  or  battery  jar  in  the  bottom 
of  which  wet  sod  or  earth  may  be  put  is  a  good  temporary 
vivarium.  Cover  it  with  a  plate  of  glass  to  keep  in  both  the 
congenial  moisture  and  the  frog.  Under  such  conditions  the 
inmate  may  be  watched  as  he  feeds.  Drop  in  some  cutworms  or 
insects  and  watch  with  what  celerity  they  are  disposed  of.  The 
very  long  tongue  is  fastened  near  the  front  of  the  mouth,  not  at 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM 


49 


the  back,  as  ours  is.  It  is  folded  when  stowed  away,  but  can  be 
shot  out  with  unerring  aim,  picking  up  the  desired  food  merely 
with  its  sticky  end. 

Turtles. — While  following  the  streams  or  dredging  in  the 
ponds  one  will  surely  become  acquainted  with  the  turtles.  The 
one  most  commonly  met  is  the  painted  pond  turtle  (Fig.  27)  or 
terrapin,  the  edge  of  whose  shell  has  a  margin  of  red.  In  the 
eastern  form  the  plastron,  the  underpart  of  the  shell,  is  plain 
yellow ;  in  the  western  form  it  has 
a  black  center.  The  geographic 
turtle  is  so  named  because  each 
plate  of  the  shell  is  marked  with 
a  network  of  fine  yellow  lines, 
suggesting  a  map.  There  is  also 
a  ridge  running  down  the  middle 
of  the  back.  It  grows  to  be  a 
good-sized  turtle,  ten  or  twelve 
inches  in  length,  and  feeds  largely 
on  snails.  The  spotted  pond  turtle 
has  a  black  shell  with  numerous 
round  yellow  spots  upon  it.  The 
adult  is  about  four  inches  long. 
The  common  pond  turtle  has  a 
shell  that  is  plain  brown;  in  the 
young  the  shields  of  the  shell  are  margined  with  black.  The 
front  and  rear  lobes  of  the  plastron  are  hinged  so  that  the 
animal  can  withdraw  head  and  legs  into  the  shell  and  shut 
it  up  more  or  less  completely.  The  head  of  this  animal  is 
spotted  with  yellow  on  a  brown  background.  The  animal  of 
average  size  is  about  four  inches  long.  The  musk  turtle  is 
about  the  same  size;  the  shell  is  also  lusterless  brown  and 
the  shields  are  margined  with  black.  The  shell  is  too  small 
for  the  animal,  apparently,  and  will  not  cover  its  head  and 
legs  completely.  The  head  is  marked  with  two  yellow  stripes, 
one  above  and  one  below  the  eye  on  either  side.  The  musk 


FIG.  26.— The  tree  frog,  Hyla 
•versicolor.  The  figure  is  retouched, 
otherwise  the  frog  blends  with  bark 
so  as  to  be  indistinct. 


50         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

turtle  gets  its  name  from  the  fact  that  when  handled  it  emits 
a  musty  odor. 

The  snapper. — Like  the  musk  turtle,  the  snapping  turtle 
(Fig.  28)  has  a  shell  too  small  for  its  body,  so  that  its  head  sticks 
out  at  all  times  and  the  tail  is  folded  along  the  edge  of  the  shell 


FIG.  27. — The  western  painted  tortoise,  a  student's  drawing 

rather  than  withdrawn  into  it.  There  are  prominent  teeth  along 
the  back  of  the  shell,  and  the  tail  is  marked  by  a  number  of 
conspicuous  projections  like  the  teeth  of  a  saw.  The  snapper  is  a 
vicious  beast;  its  jaws  are  horny  and  beaked  and  a  good-sized 
specimen  can  amputate  a  finger.  The  shell  grows  to  be  a  foot 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM  51 

or  so  in  length.  Most  turtles  lay  their  eggs  in  the  warm  sand 
near  the  margin  of  a  stream  or  pond  and  leave  them  to  be  hatched 
by  the  heat  of  the  sun,  but  the  snapper  makes  a  considerable 
journey  back  into  the  woods  away  from  the  water  to  deposit  its 
eggs  and  covers  them  with  earth.  It  may  therefore  be  commonly 
found  in  the  early  summer  wandering  some  distance  from  its 
usual  haunts.  The  snapper  lies  in  the  mud  at  the  bottom  of  the 
stream,  its  small  eyes  alert,  and  when  an  unwary  animal  comes 
near,  the  head  on  the  long  neck  stretches  out  so  that  the  horny 
jaws  may  capture  it.  Fish,  crayfish,  frogs,  and  even  the  water 


FIG.  28. — The  snapping  turtle 

birds  fall  victim  to  its  voracious  appetite.  The  animal  may  be 
safely  picked  up  by  the  tail  but  should  be  held  well  away  from 
the  body,  for  the  long  neck  has  a  surprising  reach. 

Soft-shelled  and  box  turtles. — The  soft-shelled  turtle,  as  the 
name  indicates,  may  be  easily  known  by  its  leathery  shell. 
When  mature,  it  is  a  good-sized  animal  with  a  shell  that  is 
fourteen  inches  long.  The  back  is  brown,  marked  in  our  common 
species  with  black  rings,  and  the  underside  is  white.  The  box 
turtle  (Fig.  29),  like  the  toads,  lives  usually  on  land,  but  is  often 
found  in  the  ponds  during  the  mating  season.  They  are  readily 
known  by  the  high  shell.  They  feed  largely  on  vegetable 
material,  especially  berries,  and  toward  fall  become  very  plump. 


52          SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

The  fore  and  hind  margins  of  the  plastron  are  hinged  in  these 
forms,  and  after  the  head,  legs,  and  tail  are  withdrawn  into  the 
shell  these  hinged  portions  close  very  tightly  so  that  ordinarily 
there  is  no  possible  point  of  attack.  Sometimes  in  the  fall  they 
become  so  fat  that  they  cannot  shut  up  completely  and  they  are 
then  relatively  easy  prey  to  flesh-loving  animals  with  claws  and 
sharp  teeth. 

Fish.— Occasionally,  perhaps  quite  unintentionally,  some  of 
the  small  fish  may  be  swept  into  the  net,  and  there  are  some  of 
these  that  live  reasonably  well  in  the  home  aquarium.  The  chub 


FIG.  29. — The  common  box  turtle 

is  a  representative  of  that  group  of  fish  commonly  known  as 
minnows  and  is  likely  to  be  one  of  the  first  to  be  captured.  The 
term  "minnow'7  is  ordinarily  used  to  indicate  any  small  fish, 
but  it  should  be  used  only  for  those  fish  that  have  certain  definite 
characteristics.  All  minnows  are  without  spines  in  the  fins,  and 
they  have  smooth  scales,  so  that  if  the  finger  is  drawn  over  the 
body  from  tail  to  head  the  animal  does  not  feel  rough.  This 
chub,  or  horned  dace  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  will  grow  to  be  a 
foot  long,  but  ordinarily  it  does  not  have  a  chance  to  reach  such 
goodly  proportions  because  it  is  jerked  out  by  an  ambitious 
fisherman  or  swallowed  by  a  bass  or  pickerel. 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM 


53 


The  nesting  habits  of  the  chub  are  interesting  and  may  be 
readily  watched.  When  in  a  stream  whose  gravel  bottom  is 
covered  with  mud  there  is  seen  an  elongated  spot  that  is  swept 
free  of  mud,  the  clean  gravel  showing  plainly,  usually  a  busy  chub 
will  be  seen  near  at  hand.  The  male  sweeps  the  bottom  with 
vigorous  brushes  of  its  tail  fin,  thus  preparing  a  place  for  the 
female  to  lay  her  eggs,  and  then  remains  on  guard  for  a  little 
while  after  this  has  occurred.  Sometimes  several  females  lay 
their  eggs  in  the  same  nest.  After  the  mating  ardor  has  cooled, 


FIG.  30. — The  common  sunfish 

the  male  leaves  the  eggs  to  take  care  of  themselves.  The  com- 
mon sunfish  (Fig.  30)  has  very  similar  spawning  habits.  If  a  net 
made  of  fine  bobinet  or  cheesecloth  is  held  below  this  nest  while 
the  gravel  is  stirred  with  a  stick,  the  light  eggs  will  drift  down 
with  the  current  and  lodge  in  the  net.  Turn  the  net  inside  out 
and  rinse  it  in  a  pint  jar  of  water  so  that  the  eggs  will  be  washed 
off.  They  are  small,  scarcely  as  large  as  the  diameter  of  a  pin,  and 
are  so  transparent  as  to  be  almost  invisible.  Let  them  settle  to 
the  bottom  of  the  jar  and  then  pour  off  most  of  the  water,  as 
they  need  abundant  oxygen  and  cannot  get  it  in  deep  water. 

Rearing  fish. — At  home  keep  them  in  a  small  quantity  of 
water  in  a  shallow  tray  like  a  4  by  5  developing  tray.     Replenish 


54         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


the  water  as  it  evaporates.  In  a  few  days'  time  the  little  embryo 
may  be  seen  upon  the  surface  of  each  egg,  and  shortly  it  will 
become  a  little  wriggling  fish  that  carries  around  with  it  the  bulk 
of  the  egg  in  a  yolk  sac.  It  seems  to  be  largely  eyes  at  this  stage ; 
no  fins  are  apparent  except  the  tail  fin  that  extends  well  up  on 
the  body  both  above  and  below.  As  yet  the  little  animal  has  no 
mouth,  as  it  does  not  need  to  eat,  but  lives  on  the  yolk.  When 
most  of  the  yolk  has  been  absorbed  the  mouth  and  the  side  fins 
appear,  and  it  becomes  an  active  fish  ready  to  feed  on  tiny 
animals. 

Sticklebacks. — Another  exceedingly  interesting  fish  found  in 
ponds  and  brooks  and  often  even  in  roadside  ditches  is  the 
stickleback  (Fig.  31),  a  pugnacious  little  mite  about  two  inches 


FIG.  31.— The  stickleback 

long,  whose  back  fin  is  armed  with  several  spines.  During  the 
breeding  season  the  males  are  combative  and  try  to  thrust  each 
other  with  these  sharp-pointed  spines.  Sticklebacks  are  devoted 
to  the  care  of  their  nests.  With  some  species  the  nesting  site  is  a 
bare  spot  similar  to  that  made  by  the  dace  in  the  bottom  of  the 
pond  or  stream,  while  other  species  weave  a  nest  somewhat  like  a 
bird's  nest  in  the  water  plants  of  the  pond,  which  they  guard  until 
the  eggs  are  hatched  and  the  young  are  out.  It  would  be  quite 
beyond  the  limits  of  this  chapter  to  undertake  to  describe  the 
common  fish  to  be  encountered  in  the  ponds  and  streams,  and 
the  student  must  be  referred  to  the  reprints  put  out  by  the 
Biological  Survey  Department  of  his  own  state,  or  to  the  books 
listed  in  the  bibliography. 


ANIMALS  OF  POND  AND  STREAM  55 

BIBLIOGRAPHY1 

Amphibians  of  Pennsylvania,  H.  A.  Surface,  Economic  Zoologist,  Penn- 
sylvania Department  of  Agriculture,  Harrisburg. 
Arnold,  A.  F.     The  Sea  Beach  at  Ebb  Tide.    New  York:    Century  Co. 

$2  .  50. 

Baker,  F.  C.  The  Mollusca  of  the  Chicago  Area,  Bulletin  of  the  Chicago 
Academy  of  Science.  Part  I,  Snails;  Part  II,  Clams.  $i  .00  each. 

Bamford,  M.  E.    My  Land  and  Water  Friends.    Lothrop.     $i .  25. 

BaskettJ.M.    Story  of  the  Fishes.  New  York:    D.  Appleton  &  Co.    $0.80. 

Dickinson,  Mary  G.  The  Frog  Book.  New  York:  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co. 
$4 .  oo. 

Ditmars,  R.  L.  The  Reptile  Book.  New  York:  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co. 
$4 .  oo. 

Eggeling  and  Ehrenberg.  The  Freshwater  Aquarium  and  Its  Inhabitants. 
Henry  Holt  &  Co.  $2 .  oo. 

Embody,  G.  C.  The  Farm  Fishpond.  Cornell  (Ithaca,  N.Y.)  Reading 
Course.  IV,  313-52. 

Forbes,  S.  A.  Fresh  Water  Fishes  and  Their  Ecology.  Illinois  State 
Laboratory  of  Natural  History  (Urbana) . 

Forbes  and  Richardson.  The  Fishes  of  Illinois.  Natural  History  Survey  of 
Illinois  (Urbana),  Vol.  III. 

Natural  History  of  Useful  Aquatic  Animals.  United  States  Super- 
intendent of  Documents,  Washington,  D.C.  $2 . 10. 

Bureau  of  Fisheries  Economic  Circulars:  No.  2,  Condition  of  Mussel 


Fishery  of  Illinois  River;   and  No.  15,  Common  and  Scientific  Names 

of  Fresh  Water  Mussels. 
Furneaux,  W.  S.    Life  in  Ponds  and  Streams.    New  York:    Longmans, 

Green  &  Co.    $1.75. 
Goode,  G.  B.    American  Fishes .    Boston:   Estes  and  Lauriat.    $3.50. 

1  The  attention  of  purchasers  of  books  announced  in  the  following  bibliog- 
raphies is  called  to  the  fact  that  the  prices  given  are  subject  to  change.  The 
University  Bookstore,  5758  Ellis  Ave.,  Chicago,  will  be  pleased  to  quote  current 
prices  and  furnish  books  upon  request. 

Many  pamphlets  and  bulletins  listed  are  published  by  departments  of  the 
government  and  by  the  states.  Some  of  these  will  be  sent  on  application,  some 
must  be  purchased,  but  all  are  relatively  inexpensive.  A  price  list  of  those  for 
sale  by  the  government  may  be  had  from  the  Superintendent  of  Documents, 
Washington,  D.C.  Your  local  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  at  Wash- 
ington has  many  of  the  government  publications  at  his  disposal  and  will  send 
them  on  request,  and  your  local  state  representative  can  often  send  you  desired 
state  bulletins. 


56         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Indiana  Department  of  Geology  and  Natural  Resources,  Report  of  1899, 

The  Mollusca  of  Indiana. 
Jordan  and  Evermann.     American  Food  and  Game  Fishes.    New  York: 

Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.     $4 .  oo. 

Holder  and  Jordan.     Fish  Stories.     New  York:  Henry  Holt  &  Co.     $i .  75. 
Kellogg,  James  L.     The  Shellfish  Industries.     New  York:  Henry  Holt  &  Co. 

$i.75. 
Lautz,  David  E.     The  Muskrat.    Farmers'   Bulletin  No.  396.    United 

States  Department  of  Agriculture. 
Miall,  L.  C.     The  Natural  History  of  Aquatic  Insects.    New  York:    The 

Macmillan  Co.    $i .  75. 

Miller,  M.  R.   Outdoor  Work.    New  York:  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.    $i  .00. 
Needham  and  Lloyd.     Life  of  Inland  Waters.     Ithaca,  N.Y.:    Comstock 

Publishing  Co.    $3 .  oo. 
Overton,  Frank.     Frogs  and  Toads.     Science  Bulletin,  Museum,  Brooklyn 

(New  York)  Institute  of  Arts  and  Sciences. 
Unwin,  E.  E.     Pond  Problems.     Boston:    Cambridge  University  Press. 

$0.50. 
Ward  and  Whipple.     Fresh  Water  Biology.    New  York:   John  Wiley  & 

Sons.     $6 .  oo. 

Wolf,  Hermann  T.     Goldfish  Breeds  and  Other  Aquarium  Fish.     Philadel- 
phia: Innes  and  Sons.     $3.00. 


CHAPTER  II 


INSECTS 

Crickets. — Fall  is  a  very  good  time  to  begin  the  study  of 
insects  as  some  of  the  easily  obtainable  and  interesting  forms  are 
then  available.  The  cricket  may  be  taken  as  a  type.  If  possible 
have  the  children  go  out  on  a  brief  field  trip  to  almost  any  vacant 
lot  where  this  insect  will  usually  be  found  hiding  under  the  mat 
of  grass  or  weeds,  or  lurking  in  the 
damp  recesses  beneath  stones, 
boards,  and  other  debris  that  lit- 
ters the  ground.  Learn  all  that  is 
possible  of  its  habits  and  life-history 
in  the  open  and  then  secure  some 
specimens  in  boxes  or  loosely  corked 
bottles  to  take  back  to  the  school 
for  further  study. 

The  insect  cage. — A  very  serv- 
iceable cage  (Fig.  32)  is  made  as 
follows:  Fill  a  small  box  or  low 
flowerpot  with  earth;  cut  a  piece 
of  sod  to  fit  the  top  of  it  or  plant 
in  it  a  few  sprays  of  sweet  clover 
or  other  available  weeds ;  over  the 
sod  or  sprays  put  a  lamp  chimney; 
cover  the  top  of  the  chimney  with 
cloth,  held  with  a  rubber  band  or 
piece  of  string.  The  cricket  will  be  quite  at  home  in  this  cage 
and  with  appropriate  care  will  live  for  many  days.  The  earth 
should  of  course  be  kept  moist. 

Feeding  the  cricket. — Cut  a  thin  wedge-shaped  slice  of  apple 
and  put  it,  edge  up,  into  the  cage.     The  cricket  or  a  locust  will 


FIG.  32. — Insect  cage 


57 


58         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

probably  mount  this  and  proceed  to  eat.  Notice  that  the 
cricket  has  several  pairs  of  jaws  which  move  from  side  to  side 
instead  of  up  and  down,  as  ours  do  (Fig.  33).  One  pair  is  very 
horny  and  serves  to  crush  the  food  as  it  is  eaten  while  the  others 
hold  it.  These  jaws  are  provided  with  little  finger-shaped  pro- 
cesses, jointed  palps,  that  serve  the  animal  as  feelers.  Crickets 
about  the  house  will  sometimes  gnaw  holes  in  fabrics,  especially 
if  they  contain  vegetable  material.  Starched  curtains,  linen, 
carpets,  and  clothing  have  been  ruined  by  them.  What  do  you 
find  that  the  crickets  are  feeding  on  out  of  doors  ? 


FIG.  33. — The  locust,  showing  mouth  parts 

Parts  of  the  cricket. — On  the  head  of  the  cricket  notice  the 
pair  of  long  feelers  or  antennae  (Fig.  34).  By  touching  them 
one  can  demonstrate  that  they  are  sensitive.  Notice,  too,  that 
the  animal,  in  walking  along  the  ground,  explores  the  area  just 
ahead  of  him  with  these  antennae,  much  as  a  blind  man  might 
feel  his  way  with  a  cane.  There  are  also  some  sensitive  append- 
ages at  the  hind  end  of  the  cricket's  body.  Touch  one  of  these 
and  see  if  he  is  aware  of  it.  Notice  next  the  large  eyes,  each 
occupying  a  good  share  of  the  side  of  the  head.  These  eyes  are 
compound,  that  is,  they  are  made  up  of  a  large  number  of  tiny 
simple  eyes.  There  is  also  a  little  cluster  of  simple  eyes  right  in 
the  middle  of  the  forehead.  Such  eyes  are  more  plainly  seen  on 
a  grasshopper.  Thrust  a  ringer  at  the  cricket  without  touching 


INSECTS  59 

him.  Does  he  seem  to  see  well  ?  The  vision  of  the  cricket,  like 
that  of  insects  in  general,  is  very  imperfect.  He  probably  does 
not  see  objects  clearly,  but  is  merely  aware  of  differences  in  the 
intensity  of  the  light.  If  a  cricket  is  standing  on  the  ground  and 
you  walk  around  so  that  the  edge  of  your  shadow  passes  upon 
the  cricket  he  will  probably  jump. 

Movements. — Watch  the  cricket  as  ne  walks.  How  does  he 
move  his  legs  ?  Do  the  legs  always  move  in  the  same  order  ? 
Look  carefully  at  the  cricket's  feet  and  notice  that  his  foot  is 
made  up  of  several  joints  and  bears  a  pair  of  terminal  claws. 
The  hind  feet  also  have  some  spines.  Does  he  stand  on  the  hind 
feet  in  the  same  way  as  on  the  others  ?  How  do  the  hind  legs 


FIG.  34. — The  cricket,  a  pupil's  drawing 

differ  from  the  other  legs  ?  How  does  he  hold  these  legs  as  he 
stands  ready  to  jump  ?  How  many  times  its  own  length  can  a 
grasshopper  jump  ?  How  far  could  a  boy  jump  if  he  could  leap 
as  far  in  proportion  to  his  length  ? 

Cricket  music. — The  cricket  is  better  known  by  his  music  than 
by  his  appearance.  His  cheerful  chirp  on  the  hearth  has  come 
to  be  part  of  our  mental  imagery  of  the  humble  home.  While 
the  crickets  are  confined  in  their  cages  they  will  undoubtedly 
sing;  and  the  pupils  may  observe  how  this  is  done.  It  will  be 
found  that  the  wings  are  raised  from  the  body  and  moved  back 
and  forth  in  opposite  directions.  Really  these  things  that  look 
like  wings  are  wing  covers;  the  crickets  have  no  wings  and  do 
not  fly.  On  the  upper  surface  of  the  lower  cover  in  the  male 


60         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

there  is  a  prominent  vein  that  bears  numerous  little  lidges 
somewhat  like  the  ridges  on  a  file  (Fig.  35).  On  the  underside 
of  the  upper  cover  at  the  inner  edge  there  projects  a  single 
point,  a  scraper,  which  rubs  across  the  ridges  as  the  so-called 
wings  are  moved,  and  this  device  produces  the  chirp.  A  sound 
of  somewhat  similar  character  may  be  produced  by  drawing 
a  stick  rapidly  along  a  picket  fence  or  by  moving  a  bit  of 
cardboard,  held  between  finger  and  thumb,  up  and  down  a 
file.  Only  the  male  cricket  possesses  this  musical  instrument, 
and  his  insistent  chirping  is,  apparently,  a  serenade  to  his 
ladylove.  There  is  an  ear,  an  oval  disk,  near  the  base  of 


FIG.  35. — The  wing  and  ear  of  the  cricket 

the  second  joint  of  the  front  leg  of  the  cricket;  in  the  grass- 
hoppers, close  allies,  the  ear  is  on  the  first  segment  of  the 
abdomen. 

Egg-laying. — The  adult  males  and  females  are  readily  dis- 
tinguished, as  the  female  has  a  long  tube  at  the  end  of  the  abdo- 
men, which  one  might  take  for  a  sting  if  it  were  not  well  known 
that  the  cricket  is  entirely  harmless.  This  tube  is  the  egg  tube 
or  ovipositor.  The  eggs  are  laid  in  clusters  in  the  soil,  the  female 
thrusting  this  ovipositor  down  into  the  earth  as  far  as  she  can 
reach.  The  female  grasshopper  also  has  an  egg-laying  device 
at  the  end  of  the  abdomen  (Fig.  36).  There  are  four  sharp 
points,  each  hard  and  horny  at  the  tip,  which  when  brought  close 
together  form  a  single  sharp  point  that  can  be  thrust  down  into 
the  loose  earth.  The  points  are  then  spread  apart,  enlarging  the 


INSECTS 


61 


hole,  and  then  again  brought  together  and  thrust  deeper.  When 
a  female  is  laying  her  eggs  she  looks  as  if  her  abdomen  had  been 
cut  off  just  behind  her  widespread  hind  legs,  but  if  examined 
closely  it  will  be  seen  that  the  abdomen  is  inserted  in  the  earth. 
If  the  animal  is  lifted  from  the  ground  so  that  the  abdomen  is 
pulled  from  the  excavation  the  pupil  will  be  surprised  to  find  that 
it  is  twice  its  normal  length,  for  the  abdomen  is  built  accordion- 
wise,  and  can,  on  occasion,  be  very  much  elongated.  If  the 
earth  is  dug  up  at  the  point  where  the  locust  is  found  when 
ovipositing,  there  will  probably  be  discovered  a  mass  of  eggs, 


FIG.  36. — Locust  laying  eggs,  and  the  egg  masses  (New  Jersey  Slate  Board  of 
Agriculture  Report,  1899). 

like  yellowish  grains  of  rice,  all  glued  together  in  a  common 
matrix.  These  bundles  of  eggs  remain  in  the  ground  over 
winter,  and  are  hatched,  by  the  warm  sun  of  early  summer, 
into  nymphs  that  look  very  much  like  the  adult,  except  that 
they  have  disproportionately  large  heads  and  are  wingless. 

Growth. — These  young  locusts  feed  voraciously  until  each  is 
too  large  for  its  skin,  which  then  bursts  down  the  back  and  the 
insect,  with  a  new,  thin  skin,  crawls  out.  Rapid  growth  follows 
while  the  youngster  is  in  this  new,  soft  garment;  but  as  the  skin 
promptly  hardens  with  the  deposit  of  chitin,  growth  stops  until 
the  next  rupture  of  the  hard  outer  skeleton.  This  process  of 


62          SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

periodically  shedding  the  old  skin  is  known  as  molting  and  the 
shed  skin  is  called  the  molt  skin. 

Breathing. — Observe  a  cricket  or  locust  carefully  and  see  how 
the  abdomen  is  made  up  of  a  number  of  rings,  each  telescoped 
into  the  one  ahead  of  it.  These  rings  are  held  together  by  deli- 
cate membranes,  which  cannot  ordinarily  be  seen  but  are  evident 
when  the  abdomen  is  extended  in  the  egg-laying  process.  Watch 
the  abdomen  carefully  and  it  will  be  observed  that  it  is  constantly 
expanding  and  contracting,  bellows-like.  In  fact,  this  is  the  way 
air  is  drawn  into  the  body.  The  insects  do  not  breathe  through 
their  mouths;  they  do  not  have  any  noses;  but  the  air  is  taken  in 
through  several  little  pores  that  can  readily  be  seen  on  a  locust's 


FIG.  37. — A  short-horn  and  long-horn  grasshopper:  the  differential  at  left, 
the  common  meadow  at  right;  distinguished  also  as  locust  and  grasshopper  (after 
Riley  and  Lugger). 

abdomen,  one  on  each  side  of  nearly  every  ring.  The  insects  do 
not  have  lungs  into  which  the  air  is  taken,  but  connected  with 
each  of  these  breathing  pores,  or  spiracles,  is  a  system  of  branched 
tubes.  These  run  all  through  the  body  so  that  the  air  that 
passes  in  through  the  spiracles  is  distributed  to  every  part  of 
it.  The  air  as  well  as  the  blood  circulates  in  an  insect. 

Locusts. — There  are  several  interesting  sorts  of  animals  that 
are  closely  related  to  the  crickets  (Fig.  37).  The  short-horned 
grasshoppers  are  properly  spoken  of  as  locusts;  they  are  usually 
ground  color  and  have  antennae  that  are  shorter  than  the  body. 
The  real  grasshoppers  are  commonly  green  in  color  and  have 
antennae  that  are  longer  than  the  body.  Grasshoppers  will  be 
found  in  moist  situations,  feeding  on  succulent  plants,  while 


INSECTS  63 

locusts,  with  their  harder  jaws,  can  feed  on  ordinary  vegetation. 
The  latter  are  notoriously  voracious  eaters.  Plagues  of  locusts 
are  familiar  to  the  peoples  of  all  lands,  especially  to  those  living 
in  the  moderately  warm  climates.  Our  own  country  has  suffered 
very  severely  from  the  depredations  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
locust.  This  insect  originally  lived  in  the  highlands  of  Colorado 


FIG.  38. — A  plague  of  locusts  (house  in  Jerusalem,  from  National  Geographic 
Magazine,  1915). 

and  Montana,  but  in  years  when  conditions  were  favorable  for 
its  breeding  it  multiplied  so  rapidly  that  there  was  not  enough 
for  it  to  eat  in  these  regions  and  so  it  migrated  in  hordes  over  the 
fertile  plains,  eating  up  everything  that  was  edible. 

Migration. — When  locusts  migrate  they  move  in  swarms  that 
appear  like  thunderclouds  on  the  horizon.    As  they  approach,  the 


64         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

air  is  full  of  the  whir  of  their  wings ;  it  is  said  that  the  sound  is  like 
the  hum  of  a  threshing  machine  in  action.  They  settle  on  the 
ground  in  such  numbers  that  railroad  trains  have  been  stopped 
because  the  rails  became  so  slippery  that  the  wheels  would  not 
grip  them  (Fig.  38).  When  the  locusts  alight  on  a  field  of  grain 
the  grain  is  promptly  obliterated  by  the  brown  cloud,  and  every 
vestige  of  it  has  disappeared  when,  a  little  later,  they  crawl  away 
to  adjacent  fields.  Many  times  our  western  states  have  been 
invaded  by  these  locusts,  but  the  consequent  losses  have  never 
been  so  great  as  in  the  years  of  the  great  plagues,  1873  and  1876; 
then  the  losses  mounted  into  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars. 
Other  Orthoptera. — The  katydid  (Fig.  39)  is  another  insect 
whose  strident  notes  are  a  pleasant  part  of  the  autumn  chorus. 


FIG.  39. — The  katydid,  a  male  (after  Riley,  Report  of  the  State  Entomologist, 
Missouri) . 

Its  green  color  and  the  long  sword-shaped  egg  tube  of  the  female 
make  it  an  insect  to  be  remembered  when  once  seen.  Probably 
every  country  lad  knows  that  curious  insect  known  as  the  walk- 
ing stick  (Fig.  40) .  Often  in  the  fall  when  the  nuts  are  shaken 
from  the  trees  or  bushes  this  insect  falls  to  the  ground.  The 
slender  body  and  very  slender  legs  look  exactly  like  twigs;  in 
fact  the  thing  seems  just  a  little  tangled  mass  of  twigs  until  the 
legs  begin  to  move  and  the  mass  crawls  off.  Then,  if  exam- 
ined with  care,  one  sees  the  beady  eyes  and  sensitive  antennae. 
The  animal  seems  to  prefer  the  beech  and  maple  forests,  al- 
though it  is  not  uncommon  among  hickories  and  oaks. 

Cockroaches. — In  the  cities  one  of  the  best-known  insects 
belonging  to  this  group  is  the  cockroach.  A  wild  species  is 
commonly  found  under  the  bark  of  old  stumps  or  fallen  tree 


INSECTS  65 

trunks.  The  studies  suggested  above  for  the  cricket  may  be 
made  quite  as  well  on  the  cockroach.  The  animals  may  be  kept 
in  pint  fruit  jars,  the  mouths  of  which  are  covered  with  cloth,  and 
they  may  be  fed  readily  on  bread  or  any  table  scraps.  They  are 
most  comfortable  if  some  bits  of  moist  paper  are  put  into  the 
jar  so  they  can  hide  in  the  dark  crevices.  The  cockroaches  in 
confinement  in  the  jars  are  pretty  certain  to  lay  their  eggs  in 
time  and  they  are  laid  in  a  very  interesting  way  (Fig.  41).  The 
female  incloses  the  bunch  of  eggs  in  a  capsule  which  is  made 
of  the  same  chitinous  material  that  composes  her  hard  body 
covering  and  that  looks  like  a  tiny,  rectangular,  rather  thin 


FIG.  40. — The  walking  stick,  a  male  (after  Lugger,  Report  of  the  State  Ento- 
mologist of  the  Minnesota  Experiment  Station). 

biscuit.  Not  infrequently  the  female  may  be  seen  with  one  of 
these  capsules  protruding  from  the  end  of  the  abdomen  as  she 
hunts  for  a  good  spot  in  which  to  lay  it.  One  often  finds  these 
egg  cases  abundant  under  the  bark  in  the  out-of-door  haunts  of 
the  animals. 

The  extermination  of  vermin. — Feeding,  as  the  cockroach 
does,  on  all  sorts  of  animal  and  vegetable  food,  even  on  filth,  and 
moving  from  one  dwelling  to  another,  as  it  so  readily  can  in  the 
thickly  populated  tenements  of  the  city,  it  may  readily  be  the 
means  of  transferring  disease  germs.  We  know  positively  that 
other  objectionable  household  insects,  such  as  fleas,  bedbugs,  and 
lice,  do  carry  such  germs  and  spread  contagion.  They  should 
therefore  be  exterminated  in  dwellings.  This  is  not  always  easy 


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SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


to  accomplish  with  the  preparations  that  are  usually  found  on 
the  market  for  such  purposes,  but  there  is  one  sure  method  of 
ridding  a  house  of  all  its  vermin.  They  may  be  poisoned  by  the 
fumes  of  hydrocyanic  acid  by  a  method  outlined  by  government 
experts,  which  method  is  described  in  detail  in  pamphlets  given 
in  the  list  of  books  at  the  end  of  the  next  chapter.  It  should  be 
undertaken  only,  however,  by  a  person  who  is  very  cautious,  as 
the  fumes  mean  almost  instant  death  if  inhaled  in  any  quantity. 


FIG.  41. — The  cockroach  and  her  egg  case  (after  Herrick) 

Classification. — This  entire  group  of  insects,  to  which  the 
crickets,  grasshoppers,  walking  sticks,  and  cockroaches  belong, 
is  known  as  the  Orthoptera.  It  may  be  well  to  stop  and  consider 
the  classification  of  plants  and  animals  briefly,  not  with  a  view 
of  teaching  it  to  children,  but  in  order  to  understand  enough  of  it 
to  enable  the  teacher  to  comprehend  the  scientific  books  she 
must  often  use  for  reference.  The  great  universe  about  us  is 
divided  into  the  organic  world,  consisting  of  living  things  and 
their  products,  and  the  inorganic  world,  consisting  of  things  like 


INSECTS  67 

rocks  and  minerals.  In  this  book  we  are  concerned  only  with 
living  things — the  plant  kingdom  and  the  animal  kingdom.  The 
plant  kingdom  is  divided  into  four  great  groups  called  sub- 
kingdoms  or  phyla.  There  is  the  phylum  of  the  seed-bearing 
plants  (Spermatophytes) ;  that  which  includes  the  fernlike  plants 
(Pteridophytes) ;  the  phylum  of  the  mosslike  plants  (Bryophytes) ; 
and  the  still  simpler  plants  like  molds  and  pond  scum  (Thallo- 
phytes). 

The  student  of  animal  life  divides  the  great  animal  kingdom 
into  a  number  of  phyla.  We  ourselves  belong  to  the  Vertebrate 
phylum,  which  includes  all  animals  with  backbones.  All  other 
animals  are  known  as  Invertebrates.  The  insects  belong  to  a 
phylum  known  as  the  Arthropods,  animals  that  possess  jointed 
bodies  and  jointed  legs.  All  persons  are  likely  acquainted  with 
examples  of  another  phylum,  the  Molluscs,  which  includes  the 
snails,  clams,  etc.  Some  of  the  worms  are  likely  familiar,  too; 
they  belong  to  the  Annelida. 

The  Arthropoda. — The  great  phylum  of  the  Arthropods  is 
subdivided  into  four  groups  known  as  classes.  These  are,  first, 
the  Crustacea,  a  class  including  the  crayfish  and  its  allies; 
second,  the  Myriopods  or  thousand  legs;  third,  the  Insecta,  of 
which  there  are  more  different  kinds  known  than  of  all  other 
animals  put  together;  fourth,  the  Arachnida  or  spiders.  Now 
we  are  interested  in  learning  the  characteristics  of  some  of  the 
insect  groups,  representatives  of  one  of  which,  the  Orthoptera, 
we  have  studied  above.  These  groups  of  insects  we  call  orders. 
There  are  many  other  orders  besides  the  Orthoptera;  for 
example,  the  butterflies  and  moths,  with  their  scaly  wings,  belong 
to  the  Lepidoptera;  the  beetles,  including  the  well-known  potato 
beetle  and  the  lady  beetle,  belong  to  the  Coleoptera;  the  flies 
that  have  only  two  wings  constitute  the  Diptera. 

Local  distribution. — Until  one  has  paid  considerable  attention 
to  insects  he  is  inclined  to  think  all  grasshoppers  are  pretty  much 
alike.  But  as  they  are  studied  marked  differences  appear  and, 
what  is  more  remarkable,  it  is  observed  that  the  different  sorts 


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SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


are  found  in  different  types  of  country.  Thus  some  species 
inhabit  the  reeds  and  sedges  about  the  pond,  others  the  low-lying, 
damp  meadows,  others  are  in  the  dry  pastures,  and  still  different 
kinds  are  along  the  margins  of  the  woods;  finally,  distinct  species 
live  in  the  forests  (Fig.  42).  What  is  true  of  the  grasshoppers  is 
true  of  other  kinds  of  insects.  It  makes  an  interesting  study  to 


FIG.  42. — Different  species  of  grasshoppers:  a,  the  two-striped  grasshopper 
(after  Riley);  b,  the  red-legged  grasshopper  (after  Riley),  both  common  on  the 
nearly  bare  ground;  c,  the  short- winged  meadow  grasshopper  (after  Beutenmuller) , 
occurring  in  the  meadow;  d,  the  common  meadow  grasshopper  (after  Lugger),  on 
the  tall  weeds  near  the  shrubbery;  e,  the  sprinkled  grasshopper  (after  Lugger),  in 
shrubbery  at  edge  of  woods;  /,  the  green-legged  locust  (after  Walsh),  in  woods  only. 

collect  the  insects  from  such  dissimilar  locations  and  compare  the 
collections.  Of  course  some  species  are  found  to  be  very  wide- 
ranging,  but  many  are  very  particular  as  to  the  kind  of  environ- 
ment in  which  they  live. 

The  moths. — One  of  the  interesting  objects  available  for 
nature-study  in  the  fall  is  the  tomato  worm  (Fig.  43).  This  is 


INSECTS 


69 


the  larva  of  one  of  the  common  moths  and  will  be  found  about 
full  grown  when  school  opens  in  September.  Children  will 
willingly  look  over  the  tomato  vines  at  home  and  bring  specimens 
of  the  larva.  It  is  a  large,  green,  naked  larva,  as  long  as  one's 
finger  or  longer.  A  spray  of  tomato  may  be  planted  in  the 
flowerpot  of  the  insect  cage  and  the  tomato  worm  put  upon  it 
in  order  that  its  further  life-history  may  be  seen.  Several  such 
cages  can  be  kept  on  the  window  sills  or  a  table  in  the  room. 
Probably  all  larvae  obtained  at  this  time  of  the  year  will  have 
molted  for  the  last  time  and  they  will  simply  increase  in  size, 
becoming  very  fat.  Then,  some  morning  when  you  come  to 
school  the  larva  will  have  disappeared  from  the  insect  cage  as  if 


FIG.  43.— The  tomato  worm  (New  Jersey  Siate  Board  of  Agriculture  Report, 
1899). 

by  magic.  Since  the  covering  on  top  of  the  chimney  is  still 
intact,  and  as  there  are  no  indications  of  ways  in  which  it  could 
have  escaped,  you  dig  down  into  the  soil  to  see  if  it  is  burrowing 
there,  though  it  really  is  well  to  leave  the  soil  undisturbed  for  a 
few  days  after  the  larva  has  disappeared. 

The  chrysalis. — The  larva  will  be  found  in  the  earth  where 
it  has  formed  an  earthen  cell,  in  which  it  has  completely  changed 
its  shape  (Fig.  44).  This  cell  may  be  as  large  as  a  hen's  egg,  but 
as  the  wall  is  thick  the  cavity  within  is  not  larger  than  the  last 
joint  of  your  thumb.  In  this  cavity  is  to  be  found  a  brown 
object  with  segments  and  a  handle  like  that  of  a  pitcher,  which  is 
really  the  pupa  or  chrysalis.  The  handle  of  the  pitcher  is  the 
long  sucking-tube  of  the  future  moth  and  is  attached  at  the  head 
end;  the  forming  feelers  may  also  be  seen  at  this  end,  feathery 


76       SOURCE  BOOK  Of  BIOLOGICAL  NATUR&STUD? 

plumes  laid  back,  one  on  either  side;  great  compound  eyes  are 
visible  and  the  rudimentary  wings,  too,  all  showing  that  the 
larva  is  undergoing  a  complete  change  within  the  brown  skin,  that 
the  body  elements  are  reshaping  themselves  and  are  assuming 
the  contour  of  the  moth.  Keep  the  flowerpot  with  the  larva 
in  the  moist  earth  in  the  cellar  or  a  cool  closet  during  the 
winter;  the  chrysalis  will  transform  into  the  moth  in  the  late 


FIG.  44. — The  tomato- worm  moth  and  its  chrysalis:  a,  the  chrysalis  of  the 
tomato-worm  moth,  natural  size;  b,  same  in  clay  capsule,  two-thirds  natural  size; 
c,  the  moth,  one-half  natural  size. 

spring  when  out-of-door  plants  are  available  for  food  and  as 
depositories  for  the  eggs. 

The  imago. — The  term  "imago"  is  applied  to  the  adult  moth 
or  butterfly  that  comes  from  the  chrysalis.  In  this  particular 
case  it  is  one  of  the  group  known  as  hawk  moths  because  of  their 
swift  flight.  They  are  also  sometimes  called  the  humming-bird 
moths,  since  the  animals  feed  on  the  nectar  of  the  flowers  that 
have  deep  tubular  corollas,  like  the  evening  primrose  and  the 
Jimson  weed.  The  moth  hovers  in  the  air  over  these  flowers, 
sticks  its  long  feeding-tube  down  into  the  corolla,  and  pumps 
up  the  sweet  fluid  as  humming  birds  do  with  their  long  bills 


INSECTS 


(Figs.  45  and  46) .     They  usually  fly  just  about  dusk  or  even  later 

in  the  evening.     When  the  moths  hatch,  the  males  and  females 

are  readily  distinguished,  for  the  antennae  of 

the  males  are  much  larger  than  those  of  the 

females.     These  moths  mate  after  dark  and 

the  male  finds  the  female  largely  by  scent. 

If  a  female  is  secured,  put  her  into  a  box 

covered  with  mosquito  netting  and  place 

this  on  the  sill  of  an  open  window  or  out 

of  doors.     The  next  morning  several  males 

will  probably  be  found  clinging  to  the  box, 

attracted  by  the  captive  female. 

The  eggs. — The  female  lays  her  eggs,  deli- 
cate green  spheres,  on  the  underside  of  the 

tomato  leaf  or  the  leaf  of  some  other  food 

plant,  so  when  the  eggs  hatch  the  food  is 
right  at  hand.  The  little 
larva  at  first  is  very  tiny, 
but  it  soon  busies  itself 
eating  and  grows  into 
what  children  will  call  an  ugly  worm.  That 
it  is  not  such  is  apparent,  however,  for  it  has 
the  three  pairs  of  jointed  legs  near  the  head 
end  that  are  so  characteristic  of  the  insects. 
Farther  back  the  green  wormlike  larva  has 
five  pairs  of  fleshy  clasping  organs  and  at  the 
tail  end  another  pair,  all  temporary  larval 
organs.  The  larva  is  about  the  same  shade 
of  green  as  the  tomato  plant,  but  bears  several 
pairs  of  light  stripes  on  the  sides  which  run 
diagonally  forward  from  the  back.  The  nine 
pairs  of  spiracles  or  breathing  pores  are  very 

conspicuous  on  the  sides  of  the  animal;   at  the  hind  end  there 

is  a  single  horn.     When  disturbed,  these  larvae  lift  the  anterior 

end  of  the  body  and  draw  in  the  head;  if  further  alarmed  they 


FIG.  45. — Head  of  a 
moth,  showing  anten- 
nae and  sucking-tube. 


FIG.  46.— A  but- 
terfly feeding  on 
toadflax  blossoms. 


72         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

snap  the  hard  jaws  and  spit  at  the  intruder,  ejecting  from  the 
digestive  tract  some  of  the  partially  digested  food.  The  moth 
is  a  good-sized  one,  triangular  in  general  outline,  the  length  from 
head  to  tip  of  wing  being  about  two  and  one-half  inches.  The 
wings  are  marked  with  grays  and  browns  in  wavy  lines  while  the 
underwings,  which  show  only  in  flight,  are  rather  more  brilliant. 
Cecropia. — The  tomato-worm  moth  is  one  of  a  number  of 
moths  whose  larvae  may  be  found  on  various  plants  during  the 
summer  and  fall.  On  the  willow  one  is  very  likely  to  find  the 
larva  of  the  Cecropia  moth  (Fig.  47).  The  segments  bear  several 
knobs  each,  which  change  color  as  the  larva  molts;  the  mature 
larva  bears  blue,  yellow,  and  orange  ones.  This  big  larva  may 


FIG.  47. — The  larva  of  Cectopia 

be  taken  into  the  schoolroom  and  there  allowed  to  feed  on  the 
plant  on  which  it  was  found  until  it  begins  to  spin  its  cocoon. 
It  does  not  bury  itself,  but  makes  a  silken  shroud  to  protect  it 
from  the  inclement  winter  (Fig.  48) .  The  cocoon  if  found  on  the 
upper  branches  of  the  tree  or  shrub  is  likely  to  be  spindle-shaped, 
measuring  about  thiee  inches  in  length  and  one  and  a  fourth  in 
diameter.  If  found  on  the  lower  branches  near  the  ground  it  is 
likely  to  be  a  much  more  baggy  mass  of  silk.  The  moth  is  a 
large  one,  often  measuring  six  or  eight  inches  across  the  wings. 
Its  general  color  is  reddish  brown;  a  crescent-shaped  light  spot 
occurs  on  each  of  the  fore  and  hind  wings.  There  is  a  round  dark 
spot  near  the  outer  tip  of  the  fore  wings  and  a  band  of  light  color 
parallel  to  the  border  of  the  hind  wings. 


INSECTS  % 

Gathering  cocoons. — The  fall  is  the  best  time  to  gather  the 
cocoons  of  the  various  moths.  So  far  as  is  known  none  of  these 
moths  is  of  any  large  value.  The  larvae  may  be  found  on  various 
food  plants,  may  be  kept  and  fed  on  these  until  the  cocoons  or 


FIG.  48. — Cecropia  cocoons  and  the  moth 

underground  chrysalids  are  formed,  and  then  may  be  kept  in 
some  cool  place  until  toward  spring,  when  they  will  hatch  into 
very  beautiful  moths.  The  hickory-horned  devil  (Fig.  49) ,  one  of 
the  most  appallingly  ugly  of  these  larvae,  makes  a  very  beautiful 
moth.  About  the  time  that  the  cocoons  should  produce  the 


74         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

imagoes  dip  them  occasionally  into  water  to  help  soften  the  silk. 
In  the  spring  the  cocoons  or  chrysalids  should  be  kept  in  a  box, 
covered  with  glass  or  mosquito  net,  so  that  one  can  see  at  a  glance 
what  is  happening  inside.  Several  twigs  should  be  put  into  the 
box  that  are  large  enough  for  the  moths  to  crawl  up  on,  as  they 
spread  the  wings,  for  when  moths  or  butterflies  first  emerge  from 
the  chrysalis  they  are  very  soft  and  moist  and  the  wings  hang 
as  thick  pads  on  the  back;  the  animal  must  mount  some 


FIG.  49. — The  hickory-horned  devil,  larva  of  the  royal  walnut  moth  (Cither onia 
regalis),  two-thirds  natural  size  (after  Packard). 

convenient  object  while  air  is  pumped  into  the  air  tubes  of  the 
wings  until  they  reach  the  full  size  (Fig.  50).  If  the  insect  has 
no  chance  to  let  the  wings  hang  down  during  this  process  they 
are  badly  deformed  and  shrunken. 

Parasites. — Anyone  who  undertakes  to  obtain  the  adult 
moths  by  collecting  the  larvae  or  by  gathering  the  cocoons  will 
meet  with  more  or  less  discouragement  from  the  fact  that  the 
cocoons  fail  to  hatch  or  the  larvae  refuse  to  pupate.  Investiga- 
tion of  these  unhatched  cocoons  shows  that  the  internal  organs 
of  the  animal  have  been  more  or  less  completely  eaten.  Not 


INSECTS  75 

infrequently  the  fat  larva,  apparently  just  ready  to  spin,  gives 
evidence,  by  its  inactivity,  that  something  is  wrong.  Shortly 
after  this  a  whole  crop  of  tiny  cocoons  may  be  found  attached  to 
its  back  and  sides  (Fig.  51).  These  juicy  larvae  are  such 


FIG.  50. — Polyphemus  stretching  its  wings;  moth  and  cocoon  on  willow  twigs 

tempting  food  that  certain  parasitic  insects  deposit  their  eggs 
just  under  the  skin.  These  little  eggs  then  hatch  into  tiny  white 
grubs  that  feed  on  the  fat  masses  and  internal  organs  of  the  larva 
and  then  bore  their  way  to  its  surface  and  spin  their  cocoons. 
This  is  a  sufficient  cause  for  the  evident  illness  of  the  larva. 
Some  of  the  parasites  transform  into  adults  without  spinning 


76         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

cocoons.  In  such  cases  we  find  the  pupa  of  the  moth  an  empty 
skin  perforated  with  several  holes  out  of  which  the  parasites  have 
flown.  Such  parasitized  cocoons  can  be  told,  when  collecting 
them,  by  their  light  weight  and  the  way  they  rattle  when  shaken, 
like  a  pea  in  a  dry  pod.  These  parasitic  insects  are  to  be  con- 
sidered as  among  our  good  friends,  for  if  all  the  eggs  laid  by  one 


FIG.  51. — Cocoons  of  parasite  on  larva 

of  these  moths  should  hatch  and  each  tiny  larva  should  grow 
into  a  full-fledged  adult  many  of  our  crops  and  our  shade  trees 
would  undoubtedly  suffer,  since  the  larva  eats  many  times  its 
weight  of  food  in  the  course  of  a  day.  One  tomato  worm  in  its 
development  will  strip  a  good-sized  branch  of  the  plant.  It  is  an 
interesting  school  exercise  to  weigh  several  larvae  at  the  beginning 
of  the  day,  on  a  pair  of  letter  scales,  to  weigh  all  the  food  given 


INSECTS  77 

each  during  the  day,  and  to  weigh  the  larvae  again  at  the  close 
of  the  day  to  see  how  much  has  been  eaten  and  the  gain  in  weight 
of  each  larva,  or  if  all  have  been  weighed  together,  as  is  best 
with  the  very  little  ones,  the  average  gain  in  weight.  Keep  such 
a  record  daily  for  a  larva  or  for  several  from  the  time  they  hatch 
from  the  egg  until  they  are  full-grown. 


FIG.  52. — Silkworms  spinning  and  some  of  the  finished  cocoons 

Silkworms. — The  silkworm  moth  is  an  excellent  one  for  the 
children  to  rear  in  the  schoolroom  because  it  has  the  added 
interest  of  producing  the  material  for  some  of  our  clothing.  Eggs 
may  be  obtained  from  silk  factories,  if  such  are  located  in  the 
neighborhood,  or  may  be  ordered  from  dealers  like  those  listed 
in  the  Appendix.  They  are  simply  kept  in  the  box  in  which  they 
were  shipped  until  they  hatch  into  the  tiny  " worms,"  barely 


78         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

visible.  Provide  the  larvae  with  mulberry  leaves,  fresh  daily, 
and  they  will  grow  with  surprising  speed.  The  several  molts  are 
easily  observed.  The  spinning  of  the  cocoon  is  always  a  source 
of  wonder  (Fig.  52).  When  males  and  females  are  left  together 
fertile  eggs  will  be  laid  and  the  whole  process  can  be  started  over 
again. 

Injurious  moths. — One  of  the  commonest  moths,  practically 
all  stages  in  the  life-history  of  which  can  be  collected  readily  by 


FIG.  53. — Female  tussock  moth  with  her  cocoon  and  the  egg  mass  upon  it; 
about  natural  size. 


the  children,  is  the  tussock  moth,  which  is  exceedingly  injurious 
to  shade  trees.  In  the  fall  the  cocoons  are  found  in  the  crevices 
of  the  bark,  on  the  underside  of  fence  rails,  and  on  the  joists  of 
picket  fences,  as  well  as  in  other  sheltered  places  near  the  trees. 
The  mating  of  this  moth  occurs  in  the  fall,  and  the  eggs  are  laid 
then  as  well  as  in  the  summer.  The  female  is  a  curiously  degen- 
erate animal  that  does  not  have  any  wings,  and  so  looks  like  a  fat 
white  bug  (Fig.  53).  When  she  hatches  out  of  her  cocoon  she 
simply  stands  upon  its  exterior  and  there  deposits  her  eggs. 
These  are  tiny  white  spheres,  and  several  dozen  of  them  are  laid 


INSECTS 


79 


at  once  and  then  covered  with  a  frothy  white  substance  reminding 
one  somewhat  of  cake  frosting.  The  life  of  this  female  is  very 
uneventful;  she  cannot  fly  to  seek  food,  so  when  the  eggs  are  laid 
she  soon  dies  if  she  is  not  gobbled  up  by  some  hungry  bird.  The 
male  (Fig.  54)  is  winged,  triangular  in  outline  as  it  rests  upon  the 
tree  bark,  which  it  very  much  resembles  in  color.  The  front 
legs  are  held  out  stiffly  in  front  of  the  animal  and  are  fuzzy  with 
tufts  of  hair. 

The  tussock  larva. — The  fall  eggs  carry  over  the  winter  and 
hatch  the  following  spring.  The  larva  is  at  first  tiny  and  incon- 
spicuous as  it  climbs  the  tree  to  feed  on  the  leaves.  It  forces 
itself  upon  our  attention  when  it  is  fully 
grown  and  comes  crawling  down  the  tree 
to  seek  a  sheltered  spot  in  which  to  spin 
the  cocoon.  It  is  now  an  inch  or  more  in 
length,  covered  with  short  hairs,  with  a 
sprinkling  of  longer  ones,  and  with  some 
conspicuous  tufts  of  hair.  There  is  a  pair 
of  these  long  black  tufts  on  the  segment 
just  back  of  the  head  and  one  tuft  at  the 
posterior  end  of  the  body.  Four  pairs  of 
brushes  of  yellowish-white  hairs  are  found 
on  segments  4  to  7.  The  head  of  the 
animal  is  sealing-wax  red,  and  the  body  is  yellow  striped  with 
black.  If  these  larvae  are  captured  as  they  are  crawling  about, 
seeking  some  place  in  which  to  spin,  and  are  put  into  a  box  or 
into  the  insect  cage,  they  will  demonstrate  their  method  of 
spinning  the  cocoon.  The  outside  of  the  cocoon  must  be  spun 
first,  of  course,  and  as  the  process  continues  one  can  watch  the 
activities  of  the  larva  through  the  gauzy  web  of  silk  as  it  adds 
strand  after  strand  until  finally  the  cocoon  becomes  thick  enough 
to  hide  it. 

Killing  tussocks. — When  once  the  children  know  the  life- 
history  of  this  animal  and  something  of  its  destruotiveness,  they 
will  help  very  materially  in  collecting  and  destroying  its  cocoons 


FIG.  54. — Male  tus- 
sock moth  (New  Jersey 
State  Board  of  Agricul- 
ture Report,  1899). 


8o 


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and  egg  masses.  One  school,  located  in  a  district  of  Chicago 
where  the  shade  trees  were  about  the  only  available  nature-study 
material,  collected  and  destroyed  some  thirteen  thousand  of  the 
cocoons  and  egg  masses  of  this  insect  one  fall.  The  cocoons  and 
egg  masses  are  promptly  killed  if  daubed  with  creosote.  Often 
they  are  high  up  in  the  tree  where  it  is  difficult  to  reach  them. 
Tie  a  sponge  on  the  end  of  a  bamboo  pole.  Wet  the  sponge  with 
creosote  to  which  some  turpentine  and  a  little  tar  have  been 
added;  with  this  dark  liquid  it  is  easy  to  see  which  of  the  egg 
masses  and  cocoons  have  been  treated. 

Other  shade-tree  enemies. — The  tussock  moth,  while  injurious 
to  the  trees,  has  not  been  our  worst  shade-tree  pest.     The  brown  - 


FIG.  55. — Brown-tailed  and  gypsy  moths  (the  former  horn  Maine  Experiment 
Station  Bulletin  No.  108;  the  latter  from  New  Hampshire  Experiment  Station 
Bulletin  No.  128). 

tailed  and  gypsy  moths  (Fig.  55)  are  the  two  that  have  given 
most  trouble  in  this  country.  Both  of  these  were  introduced  into 
Massachusetts  on  imported  nursery  stock,  the  former  in  1890, 
the  latter  in  1868,  though  it  was  not  until  about  1890  that  the 
latter  came  to  be  recognized  as  a  serious  pest.  In  the  ten  years 
from  1890  to  1900,  Massachusetts  alone  spent  nearly  one  million 
dollars  in  fighting  the  gypsy  moth;  and  in  the  next  decade  the 
United  States  government  and  the  New  England  states  spent 
rather  more  than  two  million  dollars  in  fighting  these  two  moths 
whose  larvae  work  such  injury.  The  gypsy  moth  is  a  dingy 
white  moth ,  streaked  and  blotched  with  black.  The  wing  spread 


INSECTS  81 

is  two  and  one-half  inches.  The  female  does  not  fly  but  crawls. 
The  brown-tailed  moth  is  snow  white,  with  a  thick  tuft  of  golden 
brown  hair  at  the  end  of  the  abdomen.  The  wing  spread  is 
one  and  one-half  inches.  The  moth  is  a  swift  flier  by  night  and 
is  attracted  by  lights.  The  gypsy-moth  caterpillar  is  sooty  in 
general  color,  and  has  five  pairs  of  blue  spots  followed  by  six 
pairs  of  red  spots  along  the  back.  The  brown-tailed  caterpillar 
is  tawny  yello\^  or  orange  in  color,  with  a  row  of  conspicuous 
white  spots  on  each  side  of  the  body.  The  brown-tailed  moth 
lays  its  eggs  in  a  silken  web  on  the  tips  of  the  twigs.  These 
hatch  in  the  fall  and  the  web  is  found  to  contain  young  cater- 
pillars at  any  time  during  the  winter.  The  gypsy  moth  lays 
its  eggs  on  the  outside  of  the  cocoon,  which  seems  made  of  yellow 
or  creamy  silk,  and  is  found  on  the  bark  of  the  trees. 

The  migration  of  gypsy  moths. — While  the  depredations  of 
these  moths  are  still  confined  to  the  eastern  states,  yet  the 
migration  is  steadily  progressing  westward.  When  the  larvae 
are  ready  to  spin  the  cocoons  in  the  fall  or  to  form  the  webs  they 
come  down  from  the  trees  by  means  of  a  silken  thread.  They 
are  likely  then  to  drop  upon  passing  teams  or  automobiles  and 
may  be  carried  in  this  way  for  some  distance.  If  we  can  acquaint 
the  growing  generation  of  children  with  the  characteristics  of  the 
animal  and  the  need  of  prompt  extermination,  it  is  possible  that 
the  early  invaders  of  our  western  states  will  be  recognized  and 
killed  before  they  have  a  chance  to  start  such  large  centers  of 
propagation  as  have  been  such  an  expense  to  the  eastern  states. 

Fighting  insects  with  insects. — The  United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture  has  imported  from  Europe,  the  native  land  of 
both  these  troublesome  immigrants,  some  of  the  insects  that  are 
their  enemies,  bugs  that  feed  upon  the  larvae  as  well  as  parasitic 
insects  that  deposit  their  eggs  on  the  pupae  (Fig.  56).  These 
have  been  freed  in  the  infested  regions,  and  it  is  hoped  that  the 
ravages  of  these  predatory  insects  on  the  moths  may  check  their 
rapid  propagation  and  reduce  the  danger  to  a  minimum.  The 
usual  method  of  fighting  these  moths  has  been  to  destroy  the  egg 


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masses,  to  clean  up  the  debris  where  the  eggs  and  larvae  are 
likely  to  find  shelter,  and  to  spray  the  trees.  Fighting  insect 
with  insect  has  had  some  notable  successes ;  witness  the  control 
of  the  Orange  scale  by  the  lady  beetle  imported  from  Asia  for 
the  purpose. 

The  apple  worm. — A  very  widespread  moth  whose  larvae 
are  known  as  apple  worms  is  the  codling  moth  (Fig.  57).  An 
examination  of  the  apple  trees  in  the  orchard  will  likely  disclose, 
tucked  away  in  the  crevices  of  the  bark,  numerous  silky  cocoons 

about  as  large  as  a  finger 
nail.  In  the  shelter  of  these 
the  caterpillars  pass  the 
winter,  but  fortunately 
only  a  small  percentage  of 
them  survive;  the  great 
majority,  probably  fully  60 
per  cent,  are  discovered 
and  eaten  by  such  birds  as 
the  woodpeckers  and  nut- 
hatches. In  May  or  early 
June  the  larva  transforms 
to  the  pupa;  and  in  the 
latter  part  of  June  or  early 
July,  earlier  farther  south, 
the  moths  emerge,  the  exact  date  depending  somewhat  on 
weather  conditions.  After  mating  the  female  deposits  her  eggs 
on  the  leaves  or  sometimes  on  the  bark  of  the  apple  trees.  The 
eggs  hatch  about  four  weeks  after  the  apple  blossoms  fall,  and 
after  feeding  for  a  time  on  the  leaf  the  larvae  crawl  into  the  calyx 
end  of  the  young  apples.  After  lunching  here  they  proceed  to 
bore  into  the  core  of  the  apples  so  as  to  get  at  the  seeds,  their 
favorite  food.  When  full-grown,  each  apple  worm  is  about  three- 
fourths  of  an  inch  long.  They  bore  their  way  out  of  the  sides 
of  the  apples,  and,  crawling  into  sheltered  spots  on  the  bark  of 
the  tree  or  the  sides  of  the  apple  barrel  or  bin,  they  form  the 


FIG.  56.— Insects  that  prey  upon  the 
brown-tailed  and  gypsy  moths:  a,  a  ground 
beetle,  Calosoma  sycophanta,  eating  a  gypsy 
larva;  b.  a  fly,  Compsilora  concinnata,  whose 
larvae  feed  on  the  caterpillar  of  the  moth 
(United  States  Department  of  Agriculture). 


INSECTS 


FIG.  57. — The  apple  worm:  a,  apple  containing  larva;  b,  larva,  enlarged; 
c,  codling  moth,  enlarged;  d,  trees  should  be  sprayed  when  fruit  is  in  this  condition; 
e,  young  apple,  showing  wormy  character. 


84        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

cocoons.  If  wormy  apples  are  put  into  a  box  covered  with 
mosquito  net  and  a  bundle  of  twigs  is  laid  in  the  box  the  larvae 
will  spin  their  cocoons  among  the  twigs. 

Spraying. — As  a  result  of  the  attacks  of  the  apple  worms 
many  of  the  wormy  apples  fall  from  the  trees  and  litter  the 
ground.  When  the  apple  worms  come  out  of  these  windfalls 
they  crawl  to  a  nearby  tree  trunk  and  there  spin  the  cocoons. 
Frequently,  therefore,  especially  in  neglected  orchards,  the  basal 
part  of  the  tree  trunk  will  be  found  loaded  with  the  cocoons.  It 


FIG.  58. — Spraying  apple  trees 

is  worth  while  to  go  over  the  orchard  in  the  fall  and  pick  these 
off,  so  as  to  destroy  them.  The  most  effective  means  of  control 
is  the  spraying  of  the  trees  (Fig.  58).  A  third  of  a  pound  of  Paris 
green  to  a  barrel  of  water,  put  on  at  the  same  time  that  the 
Bordeaux  mixture  is  applied  to  control  injurious  fungi,  makes  a 
spray  of  the  proper  strength.  Arsenate  of  lead,  in  the  proportion 
of  three  pounds  to  the  barrel,  may  also  be  used.  The  best  time 
to  spray,  if  the  trees  are  to  be  sprayed  only  once,  is  just  after 
the  blossoms  fall;  the  second  spraying  may  be  given  about  two 
weeks  later.  With  a  single  spraying  about  80  per  cent  of  the 


INSECTS 


worminess  is  avoided,  and  where  two  sprays  are  used,  about 
90  per  cent. 

The  spraying  should  be  done  on  the  few  trees  that  are  grown 
in  the  back  yard  quite  as  carefully  as  on  the  orchard  trees. 
Since  it  is  difficult  to  get  at  tall  trees  with  a  hand  spray,  it  is  well 
to  keep  the  back-yard  trees  trimmed  so  that  the  head  is  low. 
Dwarf  trees  are  valuable  on  this  account.  The  spray  can  be 
applied  with  an  ordinary  hand  pump,  an  ounce  of  the  arsenate 
of  lead  to  a  gallon  of  water,  or  one-sixth  as  much  Paris  green 
being  used.  The  Bordeaux  mixture  may  be  bought  ready-made 


FIG.  59.— The  clothes  moth  (after  Riley) 

when  it  is  to  be  used  in  small  quantities  and  applied  as  directed. 
The  directions  for  making  it  is  given  in  the  chapter  on  the 
"  Spore-Bearers." 

The  clothes  moth. — Another  very  common  moth  whose  life- 
history  may  be  studied  by  the  children  is  the  clothes  moth 
(Fig.  59),  a  little  pest  whose  larvae  riddle  our  woolens.  This 
moth  is  not  as  large  as  a  finger  nail,  is  brown  in  color,  and  has 
long,  narrow  wings  that  are  fringed  with  hair.  There  is  a  close 
relative  of  the  clothes  moth  with  much  the  same  characteristics, 
but  it  is  larger,  measuring  three-fourths  of  an  inch  •  across  the 
wings.  This  is  the  tapestry  moth  and  is  likely  to  damage 
heavier  fabrics,  such  as  felt,  furs,  and  the  upholstering  of 


86         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

carriages.  The  life-history  of  the  clothes  moth  may  readily  be 
watched  if  some  of  the  larvae  are  kept  in  woolen  goods  in  a  bottle, 
the  mouth  of  which  is  covered  with  mosquito  bar  of  wire. 
Though  the  moth  itself  is  not  harmful  it  produces  the  larvae  that 
do  the  damage,  so  it  is  wise  to  kill  the  moth  whenever  it  is  seen 
about  the  house.  Capture  several  moths  and  put  them  in  the 
bottle  with  the  wool;  the  eggs  will  soon  be  deposited  and,  in  due 
time,  hatch  into  the  larvae.  The  first  thing  that  the  tiny  larva 
does  is  to  gather  bits  of  wool  thread  and  so  form  a  protective  tube, 
in  which  it  lives.  The  inside  of  this  tube  is  lined  with  silk  that 
it  spins,  and  having  once  lined  its  nest  the  larva  never  leaves 
its  snug  home.  As  it  grows  the  tube  must  be  made  larger,  and 
this  is  accomplished  in  an  ingenious  way.  The  larva  cuts  two 
gashes  in  one  end  of  the  tube,  making  the  cuts  from  the  inside 
so  as  not  to  expose  itself,  and  sets  a  triangular  piece  of  new 
material  into  each  cut.  The  larva  then  turns  around  inside  of 
the  tube  and  in  a  similar  way  enlarges  the  opposite  end.  The 
tube  is  lengthened  by  additions  to  the  ends.  If,  while  the  larva 
is  growing,  it  is  provided,  in  its  bottle  home,  with  wool  fabrics 
in  different  colors,  first  red,  then  white,  then  blue,  and  others  in 
succession,  the  tube  that  it  builds  will  be  a  veritable  crazy  quilt 
and  will  plainly  show  the  method  of  building,  as  outlined  above. 
When  the  larva  is  full-grown  it  pupates  within  the  tube  and  after 
a  few  weeks  the  adult  moth  hatches. 

Infested  clothing  should  be  hung  out  of  doors  and  beaten  so 
as  to  get  rid  of  the  moths  and  their  larvae.  When  freed  from 
these  it  may  be  rolled  up  in  strong  paper  and  put  away.  The 
moth  bags  and  mothproof  chests  do  not  kill  the  larvae,  so  that 
if  there  are  any  eggs  on  the  garments  when  they  are  put  away  the 
clothing  will  be  riddled  by  the  growing  larvae.  It  is  well,  there- 
fore, to  give  the  garments  a  second  beating  before  they  are 
permanently  put  away. 

Butterflies. — Many  of  the  butterflies  are  more  easily  obtained 
than  the  moths  and  their  life-histories  are  equally  instructive. 
Moths  and  butterflies  are  usually  readily  distinguished,  for  the 


INSECTS  87 

former  have  feathery  antennae,  the  latter  antennae  that  are 
knobbed  or  hooked  at  the  end  and  are  not  feathery  (Figs.  46  and 
50).  Presumably  every  child  knows  the  monarch  butterfly, 
whose  larvae,  striped  black  and  yellow,  are  so  abundant  upon 
the  milkweed  in  late  spring  and  early  summer.  The  larva 
hatches  from  a  dainty  green  jewel,  an  egg  that  is  laid  on  the 
underside  of  the  milkweed  leaf.  The  butterfly  thus  seems  a  good 
botanist,  recognizing  the  young  milkweed  among  the  numerous 
plants  of  the  field,  but  this  apparent  intelligence  is  simply 
instinct;  it  is  certain  that  the  adult  butterfly  is  not  at  all 
conscious  of  having  found  the  appropriate  food  for  its  larva,  but 
her  keen  senses  are  best  satisfied  with  the  milkweed  plant,  which 
she  seeks  somewhat  as  an  old  hen  hunts  out  a  comfortable  spot 
in  the  haymow  to  lay  her  eggs.  Even  so,  the  instinct  is  not 
unerringly  accurate,  for  the  monarch  not  infrequently  deposits 
her  eggs  on  other  plants,  in  which  case  the  larvae  may  readily 
starve  to  death  before  they  reach  an  appropriate  food  supply. 

The  monarch  larva. — The  newly  hatched  larva  is  a  tiny  worm- 
like  creature,  but  it  grows  rapidly  to  maturity,  and  is  then  about 
two  inches  long.  After  having  fed  until  it  is  ready  to  pupate  it 
seeks  some  sheltered  spot,  spins  a  small  patch  of  silk,  to  which 
the  clasping  organs  at  the  abdominal  end  are  attached,  and  then 
hangs  head  down  with  its  body  bent  into  a  hook.  Gradually  it 
transforms  into  an  ovoid  green  pupa,  ornamented  with  gilt  spots 
(Fig.  60).  In  the  fall  these  pupae  are  found  on  the  underside 
of  fence  rails,  hanging  under  the  eaves  of  buildings,  and  in  other 
sheltered  spots,  but  never  very  far  from  the  patches  of  milkweed 
on  which  the  larvae  feed.  If  some  of  the  larvae  are  placed  in 
the  insect  cage  with  a  spray  of  milkweed  they  will  readily  pass 
through  their  transformations  under  observation.  In  the  cage 
the  larva  almost  always  hangs  itself  up,  for  its  change,  from  the 
cloth  that  covers  the  top.  In  the  summer  time  only  a  few  weeks 
elapse  from  the  time  of  pupation  to  the  emergence  of  the  adult 
insect.  Some  morning  the  pupal  skin  in  the  insect  cage  will  be 
found  empty,  while  clinging  to  the  cloth  beside  it  is  the  perfect 


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butterfly.  The  insect  has  a  spread  of  wing  of  about  three  and  a 
half  inches.  The  wings  are  reddish  brown,  with  veins  marked 
with  black,  and  around  the  margin  is  a  series  of  whitish  blotches. 
The  male  is  readily  distinguished  by  its  scent  sac,  seen  as  a  black 
spot  near  one  of  the  veins  of  the  hind  wing. 

Feeding  the  monarch. — Like  most  moths,  the  butterflies  feed 
by  means  of  a  long  tube,  which  is  usually  kept  coiled  like  a  watch- 
spring  between  the  palps  on  the  underside  of  the  head.  With  a 


FIG.  60. — Life-history  of  the  monarch  butterfly  (L.  W.  Brownell  in  Guide  to 
Nature). 

pin  you  can  pick  it  out  and  uncoil  it;  and  if  this  is  done  carefully 
even  the  living  butterfly  will  make  no  objections  to  the  demon- 
stration. Butterflies  will  readily  feed  out  of  the  hand.  Pour 
a  drop  or  two  of  honey  or  of  a  thick  solution  of  sugar  in  water 
into  the  palm  and  then  take  the  butterfly  gently  between  the 
thumb  and  finger  of  the  other  hand  and  stick  the  head  far  enough 
into  the  drop  for  the  butterfly  to  get  a  taste.  Ordinarily  the 
insect  will  then  unroll  his  long  proboscis,  stick  it  into  the  drop, 
and  suck  up  the  sweet  liquid.  It  is  unnecessary  to  hold  him 


INSECTS  89 

longer,  for  he  will  be  sufficiently  engrossed  in  his  feeding  to  remain 
on  the  hand  for  some  time. 

The  viceroy  mimic. — Another  butterfly  that  looks  very  much 
like  the  monarch  is  the  viceroy  (Fig.  61).  He  is  somewhat 
smaller  than  the  monarch,  but  has  the  same  color  and  the  same 
dark  lines  along  the  veins;  in  addition  there  is  a  dark  line  running 
diagonally  across  each  hind  wing.  This  is  said  to  be  a  case 
of  mimicry.  The  milkweed  butterfly  is  one  that  birds  do  not 
ordinarily  eat,  as  both  it  and  its  larvae  are  apparently  distasteful. 
Pupils  might  test  this  by  throwing  some  of  the  larvae  into  the 


FIG.  61. — The  viceroy  butterfly 

chicken  coop  to  see  if  the  chickens  will  eat  them,  or,  better  still, 
by  watching  the  wild  birds  to  see  if  they  ever  feed  upon  them. 
Some  scientists  have  been  so  curious  as  to  personally  try  the 
taste  of  the  monarch  butterfly,  and  they  say  it  is  exceedingly 
disagreeable.  This  fact  is  not  adequate  evidence,  however,  for 
the  tastes  of  the  birds  that  feed  on  insects  may  not  be  the  same 
as  our  own.  It  is  true  that,  in  experiments  made  by  naturalists, 
some  of  these  gaudily  colored  butterflies  and  larvae  were  refused 
by  the  birds.  I  have  never  seen  a  bird  eat  a  milkweed  butterfly; 
I  have  seen  birds  chase  and  capture  for  food  the  black  and  white 
Liminetis,  a  very  close  relative  of  the  viceroy  butterfly.  The 
theory  is  that  this  viceroy  and  similar  mimics  have  gained 


90          SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

protection  by  closely  copying  the  gorgeous  monarch  or  other 
conspicuous  species  that  are  disagreeable.  By  what  process  this 
resemblance  has  developed  we  are  none  too  sure.  Undoubtedly 
it  was  quite  an  unconscious  process  and  the  viceroy  is  unaware 
of  its  similarity  to  the  monarch.  It  is  not  true  that  all  the 
brilliantly  colored  butterflies  are  inedible,  and  it  is  probably  not 
true  that  all  cases  of  mimicry  are  protective.  Each  case  must 
be  established  upon  evidence.  The  children  in  any  school  can 
help  to  obtain  such  evidence  by  keeping  record  of  the  instances 
of  birds  eating  the  conspicuous  butterflies  and  larvae;  scientific 
journals  would  willingly  publish  such  data. 

Mourning  cloak  and  fritillary. — The  first  butterfly  to  appear 
in  the  spring  is  the  mourning  cloak,  a  chocolate-colored  butterfly 
of  fair  size,  measuring  two  and  one-half  to  three  inches  across  the 
wings.  The  wings  are  bordered  with  a  band  of  yellow,  close  to 
which  there  lies  a  series  of  blue  dots.  Its  larva  is  common  on  the 
willow. 

There  are  several  species  of  good-sized  brown  butterflies,  the 
undersides  of  whose  wings  are  marked  with  silver  spots;  these 
are  the  fritillaries  (Fig.  62).  As  a  rule  the  larvae  of  the.frit- 
illaries  feed  on  violets,  and  consequently  they  are  likely  to  be 
found  along  the  margins  of  the  woods  and  in  the  fields  where  the 
violet  plants  abound.  Rather  the  handsomest  of  these  has  hind 
wings  that  are  very  dark,  almost  purple ;  and  he  is  known  as  the 
royal  fritillary. 

The  cabbage  butterfly. — The  garden,  where  plants  of  the  cab- 
bage family  are  growing,  is  a  good  place  to  look  for  the  larvae  of 
the  common  cabbage  butterfly.  The  generic  name  of  this 
butterfly  is  Pieris  and  there  are  several  species.  All  are  small 
butterflies  with  an  expanse  of  wing  of  from  one  to  two  inches. 
The  wings  are  more  or  less  spotted  with  black  and  lightly  washed 
with  yellow  in  some  forms.  There  is  quite  a  difference  in  the 
number  and  arrangement  of  the  spots  in  the  males  and  females. 
One  seldom  goes  through  a  cabbage  patch  without  seeing  some 
of  these  insects  hovering  over  the  plants.  Sometimes,  in  truck- 


INSECTS  91 

garden  communities,  they  are  so  abundant  that  the  clouds  of 
fluttering  forms  over  the  fields  look  like  a  snowstorm.  The  eggs, 
beautiful  little  green  football-shaped  objects,  with  delicate 
lacelike  tracery  over  the  surface,  are  laid  on  the  cabbage  plant. 
The  larva  is  what  the  children  will  call  a  green  worm.  The  term 
"worm"  is  inappropriate,  since  worms  do  not  have  the  jointed 
legs  as  these  creatures  do.  As  a  rule  the  entire  life-history  of  the 
butterfly  may  be  observed  here  in  the  cabbage  patch.  The 
pupae  will  be  found  hanging  on  the  underside  of  the  leaf  or  on 
weed  stalks,  fence  posts,  or  other  convenient  objects.  The  larvae 
are  difficult  to  see  because  they 
are  so  nearly  the  color  of  the 
cabbage  plant. 

Protective  color. — It  is  sup- 
posed that  this  sort  of  general 
harmony  between  the  color  of 
the  animal  and  its  usual  envi- 
ronment protects  it,  and  in  all 

probability  this  is  true.     The 

,.,,  .   ,  .  FIG.  62.— A  fritillary  butterfly,  Argy- 

children  might  try  the  experi-     niscybele^ 

ment  of  putting  some  of  these 

cabbage-butterfly  larvae  on  objects  that  are  not  green  to  see  if 
such  will  disappear  more  quickly  than  an  equal  number  left  on 
the  cabbage  leaves.  An  Italian  naturalist  tied  some  green  man- 
tis, insects  with  twiglike  legs  and  leaflike  wings,  to  green  plants 
by  means  of  tethers  of  fine  silk,  and  an  equal  number  on  the  bark 
of  trees  where  they  were  not  in  harmony  with  the  color.  Those 
on  the  green  herbage  were  all  alive  after  seventeen  days,  while  of 
those  tied  to  the  brown  background  thirty-five  out  of  forty-five 
had  disappeared.  Such  general  agreement  with  the  coloration  of 
the  environment  is  known  as  protective  coloration. 

Warning  color. — The  adult  butterfly,  like  the  monarch 
described  above,  is  often  a  very  conspicuous  object  in  the  land- 
scape. It  has  been  suggested  that  when  an  animal,  like  a  skunk 
or  hornet  or  distasteful  butterfly,  is  well  able  to  take  care  of  itself 


92          SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

it  is  to  its  advantage  to  have  brilliant  coloring,  for  birds  and  other 
predatory  animals  associate  the  conspicuous  markings  with  the 
disagreeable  consequences  that  follow  the  attack  on  such  an 
animal  and  promptly  learn  to  leave  it  alone.  The  experiment 
necessary  to  find  out  that  they  are  disagreeable  may  cost  the 
lives  of  one  or  two  of  the  warningly  colored  forms,  but  it  is  better 
that  a  few  should  die  than  that  the  whole  species  should  suffer 
extermination. 

The  sulphurs. — There  are  some  bright  yellow  to  orange  but- 
terflies that  rear  their  young  also  in  the  cabbage  patch.  These 
belong  to  the  genus  Colias  and  are  commonly  known  as  sulphurs. 

There  are  several  species  of 
this  genus,  but  all  have  the 
wings  more  or  less  marked 
with  black.  There  is  one  in 
which  the  black  is  so  arranged 
that  its  outline  traces  a  dog's 
head  fairly  distinctly  and  a 
black  spot  on  the  yellow 
makes  the  eye.  This  species 

FIG.  63.— The  dog's  head  butterfly,      .      _  1,11 

Meganostamo  saeconia.  1S    known    as    the    dog  S-head 

butterfly  (Fig.  63). 

The  painted  lady. — The  jackass  is  proverbially  the  only 
animal  that  feeds  on  thistles.  This  is  by  no  means  a  correct 
notion,  however,  for  one  of  the  butterflies  is  commonly  known 
as  the  thistle  butterfly,  as  its  larvae  are  found  almost  exclusively 
on  different  species  of  thistles.  This  is  a  butterfly  with  mottled 
wings,  red,  orange,  and  black  predominating  in  the  pattern,  and 
is  called  the  painted  lady  (Fig.  64).  The  caterpillar,  when  well 
grown,  is  one  and  one-fourth  inches  in  length,  has  a  velvety  black 
body  with  yellow  marks  on  the  sides,  and  appears  warty  with 
little  tubercles  out  of  which  grow  tufts  of  hair.  This  caterpillar 
pulls  the  leaves  together  and  fastens  them  with  silk  of  its  own 
weaving  so  as  to  form  its  protective  nest,  usually  at  the  top  of  the 
thistle  stalk.  The  thistle  spines  help  keep  away  the  birds  that 


INSECTS 


93 


FIG.  64. — The  painted  lady 


would  like  to  feed  upon  it.  The  undersides  of  the  wings  of  this 
butterfly  are  marbled  in  gray  and  brown.  It  is  distinguished 
from  a  close  relative,  the  painted  beauty,  by  the  fact  that 
the  latter  has  some  large  eyespots  on  the  underside  of  its  wings. 
The  larva  of  the  painted  beauty 
feeds  on  everlastings. 

The  anglewings. — This  is  an- 
other group  of  butterflies,  with 
brown  wings  that  are  mottled 
with  darker  spots.  The  hind 
wing  bears  a  little  projection  at 
its  outer  angle  and,  in  general, 
the  wings  are  rather  angular 
along  the  outer  border.  On  the 
underside  of  each  hind  wing 
there  is  a  small  silver  mark;  in  one  species  it  is  a  comma,  in 
another  an  interrogation  point,  etc.  These  butterflies,  com- 
monly known  as  anglewings,  belong  to  the  genus  Grapta.  The 
hairstreaks  (Fig.  65)  have  an  even  more  conspicuous  projection 

at  the  outer  angle  of  the  hind 
wing. 

Bluets  and  coppers.  —  One 
may  not  travel  the  woodland 
paths,  especially  in  the  moist 
borders,  without  seeing  a  little 
blue  butterfly  known  as  a  bluet. 
In  company  with  these  one 
often  finds  little  copper-colored 
butterflies  called  the  little  cop- 
pers. There  are  many  species 

FIG.  65— A  hairstreak  r.  j   ^ 

of  each  of  these  sorts,  and  the 

reader  must  be  referred  to  some  of  the  books  listed  in  the  bibli- 
ography at  the  end  of  the  next  chapter  for  the  specific  names. 

The  swallowtails. — The  butterflies  that,  because  of  their  large 
size,  brilliant  color,  and  tantalizingly  lazy  flight,  will  probably 


94 


SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


most  attract  the  amateur  collector  are  the  swallowtails,  of  the 
genus  Papilio.  One  of  the  commonest  is  the  yellow  swallowtail, 
a  good-sized  butterfly,  measuring  five  inches  across  the  wings. 
The  wings  are  yellow,  but  are  bordered  with  black,  and  across  the 

forewings  run  some  black  bands, 
one  of  which  extends  to  the  hind 
wing.  There  are  some  crescent- 
shaped  spots  of  yellow  along  the 
border  of  the  wing  and  two  blue 
spots  near  the  inner  angle  of 
the  hind  wing.  Sometimes  this 
same  butterfly  appears  in  a 
much  more  somber  hue;  the 

FIG.  66. — The  chrysalis  of  the  black 

swallowtail.  wings  are  then  black,  but  even 

so  the  markings  described  may 

be  indistinctly  seen.  The  favorite  food  of  the  caterpillar  is  the 
tulip  tree. 

The  black  papilio. — This  insect  not  infrequently  invades  our 
gardens  to  lay  its  eggs  on  carrot  or  parsley.  The  larvae  are 
alternately  banded  with  yellow 
and  black  and  are  sometimes 
known  as  rag-carpet  worms. 
They  have  a  gland  on  the  head, 
which  gland  turns  inside  out, 
appearing  as  a  V-shaped  tongue, 
when  the  animal  is  disturbed, 
emitting  a  villainously  disagree- 
able odor  as  a  means  of  protec- 
tion. The  chrysalis  of  this 


FIG.  67. —  The  giant  swallowtail 
(reduced). 


butterfly,  as  of  all  the  papilios, 

is  not  suspended,  but  is  fastened 

by  the  tail  end  to  some  support,  and  then  held  nearly  upright  by 

a  strand  of  silk  that  passes  around  the  thorax  and  is  fastened  at 

each  end  to  the  support  (Fig.  66).     It  is  often  attached  to  the 

stalk  of  the  plant  on  which  it  feeds,  or  to  some  nearby  object. 


INSECTS 


Papilio  creso phonies,  the  giant  swallowtail  (Fig.  67),  is  a  large 
black  swallowtail,  with  a  band  of  yellow  spots  running  across 
from  the  tip  of  one  forewing  to  the  tip  of  the  other.  Another 
band  of  yellow  spots  runs  parallel  to  the  border  of  each  wing. 
This,  the  largest  of  our  native  papilios,  is  usually  found  in  the 
woods.  The  larva  feeds  on  the  hop  tree  and  prickly  ash  and  is 
one  long  to  be  remembered  when  once  seen;  it  is  a  great  big 
creature,  as  large  as  the  middle  finger  on  a  man's  hand,  and  has 
an  olive-green  skin  mottled  with  brown  and  heliotrope. 

List  of  food  plants.— There  follows  immediately  a  list  of  some 
of  the  more  common  butterflies  and  moths,  together  with  the  food 
plants  on  which  their  larvae  are  most  likely  to  be  found.  It  is  a 
fascinating  task  to  obtain  these  larvae,  rear  them  to  maturity, 
watch  them  pupate,  and  then  keep  the  pupae  until  spring,  when 
the  perfect  butterflies  come  out.  Care  must  be  taken  to  keep 
the  pupae  in  boxes  in  which  the  butterflies  will  have  abundant 
room  to  spread  themselves.  In  each  box  must  be  kept  several 
twigs  on  which  the  butterflies  may  mount  when  spreading  their 
wings. 

MOTHS 

Scientific  Name  Common  Name 

Actias  luna  Luna  moth 


Alypia  octomaculata 
Automcris  io 
Basilona  imperialis 


Callosamia  promethia 
Catocala  amatrix 
Catocala  neogama 
Catocala  relicta 
Catocala  retecta 
Catocala  vidua 
Cither onia  regalis 
Cressonia  juglandis 
Darapse  myron 


Eight-spotted  forester 
Io  moth 
Imperial  moth 


Promethea  moth 

Sweetheart 

Bride 

Relict 

Yellow-gray  underwing 

Widow 

Royal  moth 

Walnut  sphinx 

Myron 


Plant  on  Which  Larvae  Feed 

Butternut,     hickory, 
walnut 

Woodbine 

Cherry 

Butternut,  cherry,  elm, 
hemlock,  maple,  oak, 
pine,  sassafras,  syca- 
more 

Young  cherry 

Poplar,  willow 

Walnut 

Poplar,  willow 

Hickory 

Hickory 

Walnut 

Walnut 

Grape,  woodbine 


SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


Scientific  Name 

Haemorrhagia  diffinis 
Hyloicus  chersis 
Hyloicus  eremitus 
Pachysphinx  modesta 
Philosamia  cynthia 
Pholos  achemon 
Pholos  pandorus 
Samia  cecropia 


Telea  polyphemus 


Scientific  Name 

Anosia  plexippus 
Argynnis  aphrodite 
Argynnis  cybele 
Argynnis  idalia 
Basilarchia  astyanax 
Basilarchia  disippus 
Grapta  comma 
Grapta  interrogationis 

Papilio  ajax 
Papilio  asterias 
Papilio  cresophontes 
Papilio  philenor 

Papilio  troilus 

Papilio  turnus 
Pyrameis  cardui 
Pyrameis  huntera 
Vanessa  antiopa 


MOTHS — Continued 
Common  Name 

Bumblebee  moth 
Pen-marked  sphinx 
Hermit 
Poplar  sphinx 
Cynthia  moth 
One-eyed  achemon 
One-eyed  pandorus 
Cecropia  moth 


Polyphemus  moth 


BUTTERFLIES 

Common  Name 

Milkweed  butterfly 
Spangle  wing 
Great  fritillary 
Royal  fritillary 
Red-spotted  purple 
Viceroy 
Hop  merchant 
Question  sign 

Zebra  swallowtail 
Black  swallowtail 
Giant  swallowtail 
Blue  swallowtail 

Green-clouded  swallow- 
tail 

Yellow  swallowtail 
Painted  lady 
Painted  beauty 
Mourning  cloak 


Plant  on  Which  Larvae  Feed 

Snowberry 

Ash,  lilac 

Bergamot,  spearmint 

Poplar 

Acanthus 

Grapevine 

Grapevine 

Apple,  cherry,  goose- 
berry, grape,  hickory, 
maple,  plum,  willow 

Basswood,  birch,   elm, 
chestnut,  oak 
walnut,  willow,  etc. 


Plant  on  Which  Larvae  Feed 

Milkweed 

Violet 

Violet 

Violet 

Poplar,  willow 

Poplar,  willow 

Hop,  nettle 

Basswood,  elm,  hop, 
nettle 

Pawpaw 

Carrot,  parsley,  parsnip 

Hop  tree,  prickly  ash 

Dutchman's  pipe,  Vir- 
ginia snakeroot 

Sassafras,  spicebush 

Tulip,  wild  cherry 

Thistle 

Everlasting 

Elm,  poplar,  willow 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  list  of  reference  books  to  be  used  with  chapter  ii  has  been  combined 
with  that  for  chapter  iii  and  may  be  found  on  page  137. 


WtfCTC 


FIG.  68. — A  pupil's  cover  design 
97 


CHAPTER  III 
INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES 

Ants. — No  insects  are  more  interesting  than  those  belonging 
to  the  Hymenoptera,  which  group  includes  the  ants,  bees,  and 
wasps,  for  these  are  the  social  insects^  whose  community  life 
manifests  examples  of  very  complex  instincts  and  possibly  of 
rudimentary  intelligence.  The  ants  are  everywhere  abundant 
and  are  well  worth  careful  study.  Remembering  Solomon's 
advice,  one  may  take  the  group  of  pupils  out  to  some  ants'  nest 
to  observe  their  wise  ways.  If  it  is  the  middle  of  the  day  or  a 
little  later,  the  ants,  whose  nests  are  in  the  ground,  will  probably 
be  found  busily  bringing  little  grains  of  sand  up  from  the  nest 
to  the  surface  and  dropping  them  on  the  heap  that  surrounds  the 
entrance.  Then  each  ant  picks  up  another  grain  and  carries  it 
back  into  the  nest.  Apparently  no  more  stupid  procedure  could 
occupy  an  animal  than  bringing  sand  grains  out  of  its  nest  only 
to  carry  them  in  again.  Have  the  class  discover  the  meaning  of 
this  foolishness.  It  may  be  some  time  before  they  discover  that 
the  ants  are  carrying  into  the  nest  only  those  grains  of  sand  that 
have  lain  in  the  sun  some  time  and  are,  therefore,  warm.  They 
are  packed  around  the  developing  eggs  so  as  to  incubate  them; 
the  procedure  is  seen  to  be  by  no  means  a  foolish  one. 

The  ant  house. — The  life-history  of  the  ant  may  quite  readily 
be  studied  if  the  ants  are  kept  in  a  homemade  nest  (Fig.  69). 
The  Fielde  nest  is  one  of  the  best  for  this  purpose,  and  making  it 
affords  good  drill  in  working  from  directions.  Give  each  pupil 
a  copy  of  the  following  instructions  and  see  how  many  of  them 
can  make  the  nest  without  looking  at  a  model  or  a  picture  of  it. 

Cut  a  piece  of  glass  to  measure  4  by  5  inches  or  use  an  old 
photographic  negative  for  the  foundation  of  the  nest;  the  size 
need  not  be  exactly  that  given.  The  gelatin  film  may  be  cleaned 

98 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES 


99 


off  the  negative  by  soaking  it  in  water  for  a  little  while  and  then 
scraping  it  off.  Cut  some  glass  strips  one-half  inch  wide  from 
any  old  window  glass.  It  is  best  to  use  glass  that  is  "  single 
thick"  and  to  use  window  glass  rather  than  picture  glass,  for  the 
former  is  softer  and  less  difficult  to  cut.  To  cut  glass  secure  a 
wheel  glass-cutter  from  a  hardware  store  for  five  or  ten  cents. 
Lay  a  ruler  on  the  glass  a  little  to  the  left  of  the  line  along  which 
the  cut  is  to  be  made  and,  holding  the  glass-cutter  as  you  would 


FIG.  69. — Queen,  workers  of  several  sorts,  and  males  (at  left)  in  the  ant  house 
(photographed  from  a  Fielde  House,  taken  from  Nature  Study  Review,  Vol.  I,  No.  6). 

a  pencil  in  writing,  draw  it  along  the  glass  beside  the  ruler,  using 
just  enough  pressure  to  make  the  wheel  "bite"  the  glass  (Fig. 
70).  You  can  best  tell  when  this  is  happening  by  the  noise. 
Any  school  child  can  cut  glass,  for  no  great  strength  is  needed. 
When  the  scratch  is  made  place  the  thumbs  on  opposite  sides  of 
the  scratch  and  press  upward  with  the  bent  first  fingers;  the 
glass  will  then  break  along  the  cut. 

The  walls. — Fasten   the  half-inch  strips  to  the  foundation 
with  ordinary  glue,  laying  them  broadside  down  along  its  edges. 


loo       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Leave  a  half -inch  gap  at  one  comer  for  the  door.  Glue  a  second 
strip  of  glass  to  those  first  put  on  so  as  to  make  the  walls  of  the 
house  two  thicknesses  high,  in  order  to  allow  enough  space  for 
the  ants  to  move  around  freely  inside  the  nest.  Divide  the  nest 
into  two  rooms  by  a  partition  of  glass  strips,  leaving  a  space 


FIG.  70. — Cutting  glass:  the  upper  figure,  making  the  scratch  with  the  whee 
cutter;  lower,  position  of  hands  in  breaking. 

between  the  end  of  the  partition  and  a  side  wall  to  serve  as  a  door. 
Cut  some  black  cambric  or  calico  into  strips  an  inch  wide  and 
glue  it  to  the  edge  of  the  nest  all  the  way  around,  letting  it  lap 
over  on  the  top  of  the  wall  and  on  the  underside  of  the  foundation 
glass.  This  makes  an  opaque  covering  for  the  wall  of  the  nest 
much  like  a  passe-partout  binding. 

The  roof. — Cut  some  strips  of  Turkish  toweling  an  inch  wide. 
Turn  in  the  edges  of  the  strips  so  that  they  meet,  thus  making 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES  101 

them  a  half-inch  wide  but  double.  Now  cement  the  turned-in 
edges  to  the  top  of  the  half -inch  glass  strips  that  form  the  walls 
of  the  nest.  Cut  pieces  of  glass  of  proper  size  to  cover  each  room 
of  the  nest  and  lay  them  on  the  Turkish  toweling  for  a  roof;  the 
toweling  admits  enough  air  to  ventilate  the  rooms  well.  Since 
ants  are  accustomed  to  live  in  the  dark,  pieces  of  cardboard 
should  be  cut  the  same  size  as  the  glass  covers  for  each  room  and 
laid  over  the  nest.  When  the  nest  is  in  use,  keep  the  parts  in 
place  by  putting  a  rubber  band  about  them  all.  Cut  a  slice  of 
sponge  and  place  in  the  inner  room,  which  may  be  designated  the 
living-room,  the  outer  being  the  dining-room.  Before  this  is 
done,  however,  the  nest  should  dry  out  for  a  couple  of  days,  as 
the  odor  of  glue  is  offensive  even  to  ants. 

Stocking  the  nest. — Break  open  a  stump  that  is  the  home  of 
ants,  or  dig  up  an  ants'  nest  in  the  ground  until  the  eggs,  larvae, 
or  pupae  are  discovered.  The  eggs  are  tiny  white  granules,  not 
larger  than  the  section  of  the  wire  of  a  pin ;  the  larvae  look  some- 
thing like  rice  grains,  but  are  segmented  and  are  curved  at  the 
smaller  end,  while  the  pupae  appear  like  puffed  rice  grains. 
Scoop  up  the  eggs,  larvae,  or  pupae,  together  with  some  of  the 
ants;  it  will  do  no  harm  if  considerable  dirt  and  debris  are  taken 
up  with  the  animals.  Put  the  Fielde  nest  into  a  flat  pan  that 
is  at  least  twice  the  size  of  the  nest.  Make  sure  that  the  sponge 
in  the  nest  is  moist.  Then  set  this  pan  into  one  that  is  still  larger 
and  pour  some  water  into  the  outer  pan.  Dump  the  contents  of 
the  fruit  jar  into  the  inner  pan  near  the  nest.  As  ants  do  not 
take  kindly  to  the  water  they  are  now  confined  to  the  inner  pan 
by  the  moat  of  water  that  surrounds  it.  Some  few  of  the  more 
venturesome  ones  may  jump  off  into  the  water  and  drown,  but 
most  of  them  will  remain  in  the  inner  pan.  As  the  pile  of  debris 
dries  out  the  ants  will  hunt  for  a  more  congenial  place,  and  some 
one  of  them  will  discover  the  door  to  the  nest.  It  will  find  there 
a  dark,  moist  chamber  quite  to  its  liking  and  will  proceed  to  carry 
some  of  the  pupae  and  eggs  into  the  nest.  Other  ants  will  soon 
be  engaged  in  the  same  occupation.  The  problem  as  to  whether 
the  first  ant  communicated  the  discovery  to  the  others  is  an 


102       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

interesting  one  for  the  children  to  solve.  When  most  of  the  ants 
and  their  belongings  are  transferred  to  the  nest,  plug  the  door 
of  the  nest  with  a  wad  of  absorbent  cotton  and  remove  the  nest 
from  the  pan.  In  this  home  the  ants  will  live  for  an  indefinite 
time.  There  is  no  dirt  in  the  nest  and  none  is  needed. 

A  fruit-jar  nest. — Theie  is  another  convenient  way  to  make  a 
nest,  although  it  does  not  give  as  satisfactory  results  as  the 
foregoing  method,  for  it  does  not  show  the  activities  of  the  ants 
as  well.  Place  as  large  a  tumbler  as  possible,  mouth  down,  in  a 
wide-mouthed  fruit  jar.  Put  the  rotten  wood  or  dirt,  together 
with  the  ants,  eggs,  and  larvae  that  have  been  collected,  into  the 
pint  jar  and  shake  the  material  down  so  it  will  lie  between  the 
tumbler  and  the  outer  wall  of  the  fruit  jar.  The  ants  will  con- 
struct the  passages  and  the  chambers  of  their  nest  in  the  narrow 
space.  Cover  the  outside  of  the  jar  with  black  paper  or  cloth, 
which  may  be  removed  when  the  ants  are  under  observation. 

Feeding  ants. — In  the  Fielde  nest  the  activities  of  the  ants 
may  be  seen  by  removing  the  cardboard  covers  for  a  little  while 
or  by  simply  lifting  the  nest  up  from  the  table  and  looking  at  it 
from  below.  Ants  require  very  little  feeding.  A  bit  of  peanut  ' 
as  large  as  the  head  of  a  pin  may  be  put  into  the  dining-room 
once  a  week  and  it  will  serve  as  food  for  a  colony  of  twenty  ants. 
A  bit  of  sponge  cake  dipped  in  honey  is  much  appreciated  and  an 
occasional  shred  of  raw  meat  is  a  good  change  of  diet.  Food 
should  not  be  left  in  the  nest  more  than  a  few  hours,  and  whatever 
then  remains  uneaten  should  be  taken  out  of  the  nest.  Otherwise 
it  is  liable  to  mold,  and  mold  is  a  great  enemy  of  the  ant,  causing 
death  in  the  colony. 

House  cleaning. — The  air  of  the  nest  must  be  kept  moist, 
which  is  accomplished  by  keeping  the  slice  of  sponge  moist.  In 
such  an  atmosphere  mold  spores  will  promptly  grow,  so  that  the 
only  way  to  keep  the  nest  free  from  the  dangerous  mold  is  to  keep 
it  thoroughly  clean.  It  should  be  cleaned  weekly,  oftener  if 
mold  starts  to  grow.  Take  off  the  cardboard  cover  from  the 
dining-room  and  the  ants  will  retreat  into  the  dark  living-room, 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES 


103 


carrying  their  belongings  with  them.  Lift  the  glass  cover  off 
the  dining-room  and  plug  the  door  between  the  rooms  with 
absorbent  cotton.  Moisten  a  bit  of  cloth  with  alcohol  and  wipe 
floor,  walls,  and  glass  cover.  The  alcohol  kills  any  mold  spores 
that  may  be  present.  The  glass  cover  should  be  left  off  for  a  few 
minutes  until  the  fumes  of  alcohol  have  entirely  disappeared,  as 
they  are  irritating  to  the  ants.  Remove  the  plug  of  cotton 
between  the  rooms,  replace  the  glass  cover  and  the  cardboard 
one,  and  proceed  in  the  same  way  to  clean  the  other  room. 


a  b  c 

Courtesy  of  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 

FIG.  71. — a,  worker  bee;  b,  queen;  c,  drone 

Bees. — The  complicated  social  life  of  an  insect  colony  may 
well  be  studied  with  a  hive  of  bees.  The  colony  of  bees  consists 
of  the  queen  or  mother  bee,  a  great  many  workers  that  are  really 
immature  females,  and,  at  certain  times,  a  number  of  males  or 
drones  (Fig.  71).  The  sole  business  of  the  queen  is  to  lay  eggs. 
These  are  laid  in  wax  cells,  which  have  been  previously  prepared 
by  the  workers.  It  takes  an  egg  three  days  to  hatch  into  a  larva. 
The  larva  of  a  worker  bee  requires  eleven  days  to  reach  maturity. 
Then  the  cell  in  which  the  mature  larva  lies  is  covered  over  with 
a  cap  of  wax,  and  the  larva,  after  spinning  a  silken  lining  to  its 
cell,  goes  into  the  pupal  condition.  It  remains  in  the  pupal 
condition  seven  days,  then  gnaws  through  the  cap  and  crawls  out 


104       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  frATURE-STUDY 

a  worker.  At  first  its  body  is  soft  and  its  wings  are  limp;  but 
gradually  the  parts  harden.  During  the  first  few  days  of  its  life 
it  remains  in  the  hive,  feeding  on  the  honey  stored  there  and 
helping  to  care  for  the  growing  larvae.  When  the  young  worker 
is  ready  to  leave  the  hive  it  flies  outside  and  for  some  hours  buzzes 
up  and  down,  back  and  forth,  in  front  of  the  hive,  apparently 
registering  in  its  nervous  system  the  objects  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  hive  so  that  it  may  know  its  own  home  when  it  returns  from 
its  first  flight  after  honey  and  the  other  things  the  workers  must 
bring  into  the  hive. 

Brood  and  honey  cells. — The  process  of  laying  eggs  and  caring 
for  the  young  occurs  in  what  are  known  as  the  brood  cells,  a 
group  of  cells  in  the  lower  part  of  the  hive.  The  upper  part  of 
the  hive  is  filled  with  the  honey  that  the  bees  provide  to  rear  their 
young  and  to  carry  the  colony  over  the  winter.  In  the  modern 
hive  the  lower  and  upper  portions  are  usually  separated  by  a  zinc 
partition,  perforated  with  holes  large  enough  to  let  the  workers 
pass,  but  not  large  enough  for  the  queens  or  drones  to  go  through. 
It  would  be  an  inconvenience  to  the  bee  culturist  to  have  brood 
comb  and  honeycomb  mixed.  The  queen  usually  begins  laying 
her  eggs  near  the  center  of  the  brood  comb  and  keeps  depositing 
them  in  cells  that  are  farther  and  farther  out  toward  the 
periphery.  Meanwhile  the  workers  are  building  new  cells. 
After  gorging  themselves  with  honey  they  cling  to  each  other  and 
hang  in  masses,  constantly  moving  their  wings.  The  heat  so 
generated  seems  to  help  transform  the  honey  into  wax,  which 
exudes  as  little  scales  from  the  glands  of  the  abdomen.  These 
flecks  of  wax  are  scraped  off  by  the  workers  and  carried  to  the 
comb,  where  the  wax  is  built  into  the  walls  of  the  new  cells.  It 
is  when  honey  is  rapidly  coming  into  the  hive  that  the  queen 
lays  her  greatest  number  of  eggs,  as  many  as  two  or  three  thou- 
sand per  day.  As  the  eggs  hatch  the  larvae  are  fed  on  a  mix- 
ture of  nectar,  pollen,  and  partially  digested  food,  regurgitated 
from  the  alimentary  tract  of  the  workers;  this  latter  food  is 
known  as  bee  milk. 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES  105 

Hive  population. — In  an  ordinary  hive  there  are  from  thirty 
thousand  to  forty  thousand  bees,  the  great  majority  being 
workers.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  number  of  workers  must 
increase  very  rapidly,  since  the  queen  lays  so  many  eggs;  but, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  life  of  the  average  bee  is  short,  perhaps 
not  more  than  six  or  eight  weeks.  This  term  of  life  may  be 
reduced  under  adverse  conditions  or  may  be  increased,  under 
exceptionally  favorable  conditions,  to  perhaps  as  much  as  a  year. 

Drones. — Annually,  and  more  frequently  under  some  condi- 
tions, the  queen  deposits  unfertilized  eggs  in  cells  that  are  a 
half-inch  in  diameter  and  therefore  much  larger  than  the  ordi- 
nary worker  cells.  These  unfertilized  eggs  develop  into  larvae 
that  require  twelve  days  to  mature  and  the  pupae  take  nine  days 
to  reach  maturity.  The  bees  that  come  from  these  large  cells 
are  the  drones  or  males  and  are  much  larger  than  the  workers. 
They  have  a  rounded  abdomen  and  their  buzz  is  a  louder  and 
deeper  note  than  is  emitted  by  the  ordinary  worker.  They  are 
usually  killed  or  driven  from  the  hive  after  the  period  of  their 
usefulness  is  over. 

New  queens. — At  the  same  time  that  the  drones  are  develop- 
ing, certain  eggs  are  growing  into  new  queens.  These  eggs  are 
deposited  in  queen  cells.  The  queen  cell  is  larger  than  a  worker 
cell  and  is  elongated  at  the  upper  end  into  a  vase-shaped  top, 
which  makes  it  easily  recognized ;  it  is  built  by  itself,  not  among 
the  cells  of  the  ordinary  comb.  The  larvae  in  these  queen  cells 
are  fed  on  pure  bee  milk.  They  develop  rapidly,  coming  to 
maturity  in  eight  days  and  requiring  only  five  days  to  pupate. 
The  queen  bee  is  very  much  larger  than  the  worker,  the  abdomen 
is  much  distended,  tapering  at  the  end.  The  egg  from  which  the 
queen  develops  is  a  fertilized  egg  just  like  that  from  which  the 
workers  come,  but  the  difference  in  feeding  results  in  the  dif- 
ference in  the  kind  of  bee. 

Swarming. — The  bees  in  a  hive  will  not  ordinarily  be  content 
when  more  than  one  queen  is  present;  therefore  when  the  new 
queens  develop  swarming  is  likely  to  occur.  The  bees  issue  from 


io6       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

the  hive,  and  a  queen,  followed  by  many  drones,  flies  up  into  the 
air  where  she  mates  with  one  of  the  drones,  commonly  the  one 
capable  of  longest  flight  in  her  pursuit.  At  this  mating  the  sperm 
sac  of  the  female  is  filled  with  the  fertilizing  elements  from  the 
male.  This  sac  is  under  the  control  of  the  female,  so  that,  as  the 
egg  passes  down  the  oviduct  in  laying,  the  opening  of  the  sperm 
receptacle  may  be  kept  closed,  when  the  egg  is  unfertilized  and 
results  in  a  drone,  or  it  may  open  far  enough  to  let  some  sperm 
escape  and  fertilize  the  egg.  In  the  latter  case  a  queen  or  a 
worker  results,  according  to  the  feeding.  This  mating  of  the 
male  and  female  occurs  but  once  in  the  life  of  the  female.  She 
may  live  four  or  five  years,  but  ordinarily  does  not  have  more 
than  two  years  of  maximum  productivity,  which  makes  it  cus- 
tomary to  re-queen  the  hive  every  two  years. 

Clipping  the  queen. — Af ter  the  nuptial  flight  the  queen  comes 
back  to  the  nest  and  leads  off  a  host  of  the  workers  to  find  new 
and  more  commodious  quarters.  In  bee  culture  it  is  evidently 
unwise  to  allow  this  swarming  to  occur  for  fear  the  swarm  may  be 
lost.  At  best  it  is  a  difficult  task  to  hive  the  swarm  successfully. 
It  is  much  better  to  transfer  a  queen  and  sufficient  workers  to  a 
new  hive.  The  queens  are  therefore  usually  taken  in  hand  and 
the  wings  clipped  with  a  pair  of  scissors  or  a  sharp  knife.  Since 
it  is  well  to  know  the  age  of  the  queen  it  is  wise  to  clip  the  wings 
in  a  different  way  each  year.  It  is  customary  to  clip  the  right 
wings  on  even  years  and  the  left  wings  on  odd  years. 

The  movable  frame. — The  modern  hive  consists  of  a  lower 
portion,  in  which  the  brood  comb  is  formed,  and  an  upper  part, 
in  which  the  honey  is  stored.  This  upper  part  is  stocked  with 
movable  frames.  Before  the  frame  is  put  into  the  hive  it  is 
supplied  with  sheets  of  wax,  known  as  the  foundations  and 
stamped  with  the  outlines  of  worker  cells.  The  bees  continue 
to  build  on  this  foundation,  making  the  cells  that  will  be  stocked 
with  honey.  After  the  cell  is  formed  and  stocked  with  honey  it 
is  capped  with  wax.  The  honey  is  ordinarily  brought  into  the 
hive  in  a  relatively  short  time,  a  good  hive  of  bees  bringing  in 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES 


107 


from  ten  to  fifteen  pounds  of  honey  a  day  while  the  clover,  "bass- 
wood,  or  other  blossoms  last,  from  which  they  can  secure  a  large 
supply.  A  single  hive  may  yield  fifty  to  seventy-five  pounds  of 
honey  a  year  or  even  more.  Not  all  gathered  can  be  taken  from 
the  hive,  as  the  bees  must  have  some  for  their  own  use.  Ordina- 
rily the  combs  are  removed  from  the  hive  as  soon  as  they  are  filled 
and  capped.  The  caps  are  cut  off  with  a  warm  sharp  knife  and 
the  honey  is  poured  out.  The  empty  comb  can  then  be  returned 


FIG.  72. — Children  watching  the  removal  of  honey  from  hive 

to  the  hive  to  be  refilled.  In  this  way  the  beekeeper  secures  from 
the  hive  a  larger  amount  of  strained  honey  than  he  could  possibly 
get  of  comb  honey,  since  it  requires  about  fifteen  pounds  of 
honey  to  make  a  pound  of  wax. 

Good  stock. — In  stocking  the  hive  it  is  important  to  get  a  good 
strain  of  bees.  The  bees  known  as  Italians  are  generally  con- 
sidered the  best,  as  they  are  docile,  excellent  workers,  and  hardy. 
With  the  protection  of  gloves  and  veil,  one  may  readily  work 
around  the  apiary  without  any  danger  from  stings  (Fig.  72), 
and  as  soon  as  one  can  get  used  to  having  the  bees  crawling  over 


io8       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

his  person  without  making  sudden,  threatening  movements  he 
may  work  about  the  hive  quite  unprotected.  The  worker  bee 
stings  only  in  self-defense,  the  drone  is  a  stingless  creature,  and 
the  female  uses  her  sting  only  on  rival  females. 

The  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  issues  several 
pamphlets  on  beekeeping  and  most  of  the  states  issue,  either  from 
the  agriculture  department  or  from  the  agricultural  college, 
detailed  instructions  applicable  to  local  conditions  (see  bibli- 
ography). 

Demonstration  hive. — Many  phases  of  the  life  of  the  bee  can 
be  better  seen  in  a  hive  devised  for  the  purpose  than  in  the 
ordinary  commercial  hive.  Such  hives,  built  for  school  use,  can 
be  obtained  from  many  dealers  in  bee  supplies.1  There  follows 
directions  for  making  such  a  hive  that  can  easily  be  built  by  any 
ingenious  boy  or  girl  for  the  schoolroom  or  home.  Any  local 
beekeeper  will  willingly  stock  it  for  the  school;  directions  for 
stocking  it  are  also  appended. 

In  such  a  small  hive,  intended  to  show  the  life-history  and 
activities  of  the  bees,  there  is  need  for  brood  comb  only.  Since 
the  bees  cannot  store  much  honey  and  so  must  be  fed  at  times, 
the  hive  stands  on  a  box  base  arranged  to  hold  a  simple  feeder. 
The  hive  itself  has  double  glass  sides  through  which  the  bees  may 
be  watched.  The  glass  used  in  the  hive,  for  which  dimensions 
are  given  below,  is  12  by  16  inches,  a  stock  size.  The  boards 
are  of  half -inch  stuff  unless  otherwise  specified  (Fig.  73). 

Cut  the  boards  to  build  a  box  4  by  6|  by  20  inches  outside 
measure  with  a  top  depressed  one-half  inch  below  the  sides  and 
projecting  one  inch  beyond  them  at  one  end.  At  the  opposite 
end  the  box  is  left  open  to  receive  the  feeder.  On  the  top  will 
stand  two  uprights,  each  3!  by  12^  inches,  which  are  to  be  the 
ends  of  the  hive  and  so  must  be  grooved  to  receive  the  glass  sides. 
Provide  the  grooves  in  this  way :  Out  of  quarter-inch  stuff,  such 
as  can  be  obtained  in  any  small  wooden  box,  cut  two  strips  i^  by 

1  A.  I.  Root  &  Co.,  Medina,  Ohio,  make  a  very  good  one  that  lists  at  from 
$4.00  to  $10.00,  stocked. 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES  109 

12  inches  and  eight  that  are  the  same  length  but  one-quarter  inch 
wide.  Nail  one  of  the  wide  strips  lengthwise  in  the  middle  of  each 
upright,  its  end  flush  with  the  top  of  the  upright.  Parallel  to  it 
and  one-eighth  inch  from  it,  fasten  on  either  side  one  of  the 
quarter-inch  strips,  and  one-eighth  inch  farther  out,  another. 
Thus  on  either  side  of  the  inch-and-a-half-wide  strip  there  is, 
first,  a  one-eighth-inch  groove,  then  a  one-quarter-inch  strip,  and 
a  second  one-eighth-inch  groove.  Fasten  a  strip,  J  by  i  inch, 
one-eighth  inch  below  the  ends  of  each  pair  of  quarter-inch  strips; 


FIG.  7^5. — Front  and  rear  views  of  demonstration  beehive 

these  will  support  some  narrow  strips  of  glass.  Cut  a  door  one 
inch  wide  and  a  half -inch  high  in  the  middle  of  the  basal  end  of 
one  of  these  uprights. 

Fasten  these  grooved  uprights,  with  screws,  to  the  top  of  the 
box  base  with  the  grooved  faces  toward  each  other,  one  at  the 
open  end,  the  other,  with  the  door  in  it,  three  and  seven-eighths 
inches  from  the  other  end,  so  that  there  is  a  space  of  one  inch 
between  the  sides  of  the  box  top  and  the  edges  of  the  uprights. 
The  uprights  should  now  be  at  proper  distance  to  receive  the 
i2-by-i6-inch  panes  of  glass.  Next  put  the  box  base  together, 
the  uprights  in  place  on  its  top.  Fill  the  spaces  between  the 


no       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

uprights  and  the  sides  with  four  blocks,  each  J  by  i  inch.  Bore 
three  half -inch  holes  in  the  middle  line  of  the  top  of  the  box  base 
and  cover  with  strips  of  excluder  metal.  This  permits  workers 
to  pass  out  of  the  hive  and  into  the  box  base  but  will  not  allow 
queens  or  drones  to  pass;  it  may  be  purchased  of  any  dealer  in 
bee  supplies.  Cut  two  strips  of  glass,  each  i  by  16  inches,  and 
set  them  into  the  horizontal  grooves  prepared  for  them  as  di- 
rected. Put  in  the  four  panes  of  glass.  With  screws  fasten  a 
top  piece,  4^  by  i  y|  inches,  on  the  uprights.  Cut  two  strips  of 
galvanized  or  brass  wire  mosquito  bar,  if  by  20  inches,  and  tack 
one  on  each  side  of  the  hive  so  as  to  cover  the  space  between 
the  glass  and  the  sides  of  the  box  base.  Cut  a  piece  2-|  by  6| 
inches  to  cover  the  space  between  the  sides,  in  front  of  the 
door  to  the  hive.  These  spaces  serve  as  ventilators.  Cover  the 
one-half-inch  space  above  the  projecting  top  of  the  box  base 
with  excluder  metal  in  such  a  way  that  it  can  be  raised  to  put 
in  the  queen. 

The  feeder  is  made  as  a  drawer  2§  by  4!  by  19  inches,  outside 
measure,  to  slip  into  the  open  end  of  the  box  base.  Fasten  into 
it  two  partitions,  2  by  18  inches,  with  a  notch,  T  by  ij  inches,  cut 
out  of  the  center  of  each.  These  partitions  run  lengthwise  of  the 
feeder  and  are  an  inch  apart,  and  each  is  almost  an  inch  from  the 
adjacent  side  wall. 

In  stocking  the  hive  it  is  necessary  to  cover  the  glass  sides  of 
the  hive  and  the  ventilators  with  shutters.  Make  two  shutters, 
each  12  by  1 6  inches,  with  a  strip  f  by  16  inches  tacked  at  right 
angles  along  one  edge.  Cut  a  board  2|  by  6  inches  to  cover  the 
front  ventilator.  These  may  all  be  fastened  on  with  small  screw 
hooks  and  eyes.  Put  the  shutters  over  the  front  ventilator  and 
over  one  side;  unscrew  the  top  of  the  hive  and  take  out  the  two 
panes  of  glass  on  the  uncovered  side ;  then  lay  the  hive  down  on 
the  covered  side  and  support  it  so  that  it  is  level.  Cut  ten 
vertical  strips  of  about  three-day-old  brood  comb  from  a  frame 
in  an  old  hive,  making  them  about  twelve  inches  long  and  a  shade 
less  than  an  inch  and  a  half  wide.  Lay  these  in  the  new  hive,  a 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES  III 

freshly  cut  surface  against  the  glass  side,  so  as  to  leave  about 
three-quarter-inch  spaces  between  them.  If  the  brood  comb 
does  not  contain  considerable  honey,  cut  a  couple  of  similar  strips 
from  the  honeycomb  in  another  frame  and  set  these  in,  in  place 
of  two  of  the  brood  comb.  Replace  the  glass  sides,  screw  on  the 
top,  and  put  on  the  side  shutter. 

Raise  the  excluder  at  the  front  of  the  hive  and  put  in  the 
queen.  Prop  up  a  two-foot  length  of  wide  board  so  that  it  will 
be  about  on  a  level  with  the  hive  door.  In  the  late  afternoon  of  a 
day  when  the  bees  are  gathering  honey  well,  shake  on  this  board 
the  bees  from  a  couple  of  combs  of  an  old  hive;  enough  young 
bees  will  go  in  to  stock  the  new  hive  even  if  many  old  ones  fly 
back  home.  Leave  the  hive  on  its  side  for  a  couple  of  days,  when 
it  may  be  stood  upright  and  taken  to  its  permanent  stand. 
Place  it,  door  end  out,  under  the  raised  sash  of  a  window  in  the 
schoolroom  or  at  home,  next  the  casement.  Fill  the  remaining 
space  under  the  sash  with  a  board  so  that  the  bees  may  not  enter 
the  room.  It  will  be  necessary  to  feed  the  colony  at  first,  using 
a  syrup  made  of  one  part,  by  volume,  of  water  to  two  of  sugar. 
Bring  the  water  to  a  boil  and  slowly  stir  in  the  sugar,  stirring 
until  it  dissolves  so  that  it  will  not  scorch,  as  burned  syrup  is 
often  fatal  to  bees.  It  will  also  be  necessary  to  feed  them  when- 
ever nectar  is  scarce.  If  the  room  temperature  is  kept  between 
40°  and  70°  the  bees  will  winter  in  this  hive  kept  in  its  place  in 
the  window. 

Wasps. — Among  the  common  wasps  none  are  more  interesting 
than  the  paper  wasp,  the  mud  dauber,  and  the  digger  wasp. 
The  paper  wasp  is  the  one  that  builds  its  nest  out  of  gray  material 
laid  down  in  thin  layers  like  paper  (Fig.  74).  This  really  is  a 
true  paper,  as  it  is  made  by  the  wasps  from  wood  fiber  that  is 
reduced  to  pulp  by  chewing  and  mixed  with  a  secretion  that 
gives  it  firmness.  There  are  two  groups  of  these  paper  wasps 
that  are  of  almost  universal  distribution  in  the  North. 

Vespa. — Vespa  builds  an  egg-shaped  nest,  which  is  attached 
to  trees,  buildings,  or  other  sheltered  spots.  It  is  a  covered  nest, 


112       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

provided  with  an  outer  wall  of  paper.  The  opening  for  the 
entrance  and  exit  of  the  wasps  is  at  the  small  and  lower  end  of  the 
nest.  When  ripped  open  such  a  nest  is  seen  to  have  a  central 
stalk,  to  which  are  attached  a  succession  of  flat  paper  combs, 
quite  similar  to  the  bees'  comb.  In  the  cells  of  these  combs  are 
the  eggs,  the  larvae,  the  pupae,  and  the  immature  wasps.  The 
nest  is  therefore  something  like  a  dwelling  of  several  stories. 
These  flat  circular  combs  do  not  run  out  so  as  to  come  in  contact 
with  the  exterior  wall,  but  a  space  left  between  this  outer  wall  and 


FIG.  74. — The  paper  wasp's  nest  (Polishes)  (after  Herrick) 

the  combs  is  used  by  the  wasps  in  getting  from  level  to  level. 
The  life-history  of  the  young  wasp  is  very  similar  to  that  of  the 
young  bee,  but  the  food  with  which  it  is  supplied  consists  of 
insects  or  spiders  that  are  put  into  the  cell  when  the  egg  is  laid 
or  shortly  after  and  sealed  with  it. 

Polistes. — Polistes  builds  an  uncovered  nest,  usually  a  single 
circular  comb  which  is  attached  by  means  of  a  central  stalk,  to 
the  eaves  of  a  barn,  to  the  underside  of  a  fence  rail,  or  to 
some  such  object.  Polistes  is  commonly  known  as  the  white- 
faced  hornet  because  the  males  of  the  species  have  characteristic 
white  markings  on  the  head.  They  are  also  stingless.  William 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES 


Hamilton  Gibson,  in  his  delightful  book  Sharp  Eyes,  tells  how  he 
demonstrated  to  a  deluded  friend  the  possibility  of  handling  a 
hornet  with  impunity.  In  a  postscript  to  the  article  he  warns 
the  novice  in  insect  adventure  to  be  careful  to  select  the  white- 
faced  hornet  for  the  experiment. 

Mud  daubers  and  diggers. — The  common  mud  daubers  are 
metallic  blue  wasps  with  nar- 
row waists  that  build,  out  of 
mud,  the  cell  in  which  the 
egg  is  laid  and  the  young  is 
reared.  You  will  frequently 
find  these  wasps  working 
along  the  margin  of  a  pond 
or  stream,  gathering  in  their 
mandibles  a  pellet  of  clay, 
which  they  bear  in  flight  to 
the  nest  site.  The  cell  is  usu- 
ally plastered  to  the  under- 
side of  the  limb  of  a  tree,  to 
the  hollow  of  a  fence  post  or 
low  stump,  and,  not  infre- 
quently, to  the  rafters  of  the 
barn.  It  is  a  rather  skilfully 
made  clay  jug  as  large  as  a 
thumb.  In  this  the  egg  is 
deposited,  together  with  the 
spiders,  the  larvae,  or  the  in- 
sects that  have  been  more  or 
less  completely  killed  by  the  sting  of  the  wasp.  Some  species 
build  many  clay  cells  together,  forming  a  good-sized  dry  nest 
(Fig.  75). 

The  digger  wasp  excavates  a  hole  in  the  earth  and  in  it  the 
larvae  are  reared  to  maturity  (Fig.  76).  All  of  these  wasps 
manifest  complex  instincts.  Those  of  the  digger  wasp  have  been 
studied  with  a  great  deal  of  care.  After  excavating  the  hole,  or 


FIG.  75. — Mud  dauber's  nest;  lower 
figure  removed  from  board  to  show  in- 
terior cells  rilled  with  spiders. 


SOURCE  BOOK  Of  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

finding  one  to  her  liking  already  made,  the  wasp  proceeds  to  stock 
it  with  insects  of  various  sorts  and  with  spiders.  As  she  flies 
among  the  garden  shrubbery  she  sees  a  spider,  pounces  upon  it, 
and  stings  it  with  two  or  three  thrusts.  Usually  the  animal  is  not 
instantly  killed,  but  is  more  or  less  completely  paralyzed  by  the 
poison.  Seizing  the  animal  with  her  feet  and  holding  it  close  to 
her  body,  the  wasp  flies  to  her  hole  and  places  the  victim  within 
(Fig.  77).  Usually  several  spiders  or  larvae  are  placed  in  the 
same  hole;  on  them  the  eggs  are  laid,  sometimes  only  one, 
sometimes  several.  The  wasp  plugs  the  opening  of  the  hole  and 


FIG.  76. — Holes  of  digger  wasp  (Microbembex  monodonta)  at  left;  wasp  at 
entrance  to  hole  at  right. 

levels  it  off  to  conform  to  the  surrounding  ground.  When  the 
eggs  hatch  the  larvae  are  abundantly  supplied  with  food  until 
they  grow  to  full  size  and  pupate.  When  the  adult  wasp  comes 
from  the  pupa  it  must  break  out  of  its  underground  cell  to  begin 
its  independent  life. 

Untaught  instincts. — If  it  chances  to  be  a  female,  it  goes 
through  the  same  procedure  as  did  its  mother.  This  is  all  done 
without  any  teaching,  without  even  the  opportunity  to  learn  by 
imitation,  and  yet  the  complex  actions  are  accomplished  gener- 
ation after  generation.  It  has  been  said  that  the  instinct  is 
unerring,  that  the  wasp  stings  the  insect  or  spider  in  its  nervous 
system,  producing  only  paralysis  and  not  death,  so  that  the 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES 


young  are  supplied  with  fresh  meat.  This  has  been  demon- 
strated to  be  an  inaccurate  statement,  however,  for  not  infre- 
quently the  captive  is  killed  and  the  food  is  in  various  stages  of 
decomposition  before  the  young  are  ready  to  feed  upon  it.  It 
has  been  found,  moreover,  that  if  the  objects  immediately  around 
the  opening  of  the  nest  be  changed  the  wasp  readily  loses  the  nest, 
has  to  hunt  for  it  a  long  time,  and  not  infrequently  gives  it  up 
and  makes  a  new  one  in  which  to  begin  the  process  all  over  again. 


FIG.  77.— The  cicada  killer  (New  Jersey  State  Board  of  Agriculture  Report, 
1899)- 

There  is  therefore  no  intelligent  appreciation  of  a  new  situation 
and  the  behavior  is  merely  that  of  blind,  inborn  instinct,  which  is 
very  wonderful  none  the  less. 

Bugs. — The  squash  bug  (Fig.  78)  is  a  good  type  of  a  large 
group  of  insects  that  are  properly  called  bugs.  All  bugs  are 
insects,  but  not  all  insects  are  bugs.  Only  those  insects  whose 
mouth  parts  are  arranged  as  a  sharp  sucking-tube  and  that 
possess  wings  that  are  partly  leathery  and  partly  gauzy  are  to  be 
classed  as  Hemiptera  or  bugs.  The  squash  bug  fulfils  these 
requirements.  It  is  the  grayish,  triangular  bug  so  commonly 


Ii6       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

found  on  the  squash  or  cucumber  vines.  The  head  is  small,  the 
eyes  are  large,  the  thorax  is  broad,  and  the  abdomen  is  largely 
covered  by  two  pairs  of  wings.  The  underwings  are  membranous 
and  the  upper  ones  meet  in  a  zigzag  line  down  the  back.  (There 
is  one  large  section  of  the  bugs,  including  the  cicada  or  seventeen- 
year  locust,  that  has  both  pairs  of  wings  membranous.)  The 
squash  bug  lays  its  eggs  on  the  underside  of  the  leaf.  The  young 
that  hatch  are  much  like  the  adults,  but  are  wingless.  These 
nymphs  undergo  a  succession  of  molts  as  they  grow  and  finally 
reach  the  adult  condition  about  three  weeks  after  the  eggs  are 
laid.  When  disturbed  the  squash  bug  gives  off  an  offensive  odor, 


FIG.  78. — Squash  bug  on  leaf  margin;  note  sucking-tube 

a  common  trick  among  the  bugs.  This  is  presumably  a  pro- 
tective proceeding,  as  a  bird  that  would  otherwise  feed  with 
avidity  on  these  soft-bodied  insects  would  be  repelled  by  the 
disagreeable  taste.  Many  of  the  Hemiptera  are  therefore  com- 
monly known  as  stink  bugs. 

Plant  pests. — In  this  group  of  bugs  occur  many  of  man's  worst 
insect  enemies.  Here  belong  the  plant  lice,  those  tiny  soft- 
bodied  insects  so  common  on  house  plants  and  on  the  garden 
plants  too  (Fig.  79).  Their  sucking-tubes  are  used  to  penetrate 
the  tissue  of  the  plant,  from  which  sap  is  withdrawn  as  food. 
While  these  insects  are  very  tiny,  their  enormous  rate  of  repro- 
duction (p.  165)  makes  their  ravages  serious,  as  plants  become  so 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES  117 

thoroughly  infested  that  they  die  from  the  loss  of  their  juices. 
Many  persons  have  experienced  the  loss  of  sweet-pea  vines  from 
the  plant  lice.  In  this  group  of  bugs  we  also  find  the  scale 
insects,  which  secure  their  food  in  the  same  way  from  shade  and 
fruit  trees.  The  cottony  scale  on  our  elms  and  maples  ^and  the 
San  Jose  scale  on  the  apple  trees  are  samples  of  these  pests. 
Some  of  them  cause  characteristic  swellings  on  the  stems  or 
leaves  of  plants  and  the  colony  of  plant  lice  or  aphids  live  within 
the  enlargement.  Such  growths  are  designated  galls ;  the  cocks- 
comb gall  (Fig.  80)  on  the  elm  leaf  and  a  similar  one  on  terminal 


FIG.  79. — Plant  lice:  the  corn -root  aphis  whose  eggs  and  young  are  cared  for 
and  the  colonies  of  aphids  pastured  on  the  roots  of  the  corn  by  the  brown  ant 
Lasius  niger  var.  americanus  (after  Webster). 

twigs  of  the  cottonwood  are  well-known  samples.  Most  of  the 
galls  are  caused  by  insects  belonging  to  a  group  of  the  Hyme- 
noptera  known  as  gallflies.  Several  of  the  more  common  bugs 
live  in  the  water  and  are  considered  in  the  chapter  on  "Animals 
of  Pond  and  Stream." 

Beetles. — None  of  the  insects  are  more  in  evidence  to  a  careful 
observer  than  are  the  beetles.  These  insects  have  very  hard  wing 
covers,  and  this  fact  gives  them  their  scientific  name  of  Coleop- 
tera,  meaning  stony-winged.  The  wing  covers  are  protective 
devices,  smooth  and  slippery,  covering  the  soft  body  as  well  as 
the  gauzy  wings  that  are  the  real  organs  of  flight.  The  potato 
beetle  is  a  familiar  example  (Fig.  81).  The  female  lays  her  eggs 


u8       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


on  the  underside  of  the  leaf  or  the  stem.  These  hatch  out  into 
soft-bodied  larvae,  which  do  not  have  a  wormlike  form.  It  will 
be  recalled  that  the  term  " larva"  is  applied  to  the  young  of  an 
insect  when  it  does  not  look  like  the  adult.  It  is  so  often  used 
for  the  familiar  wormlike  larvae  of  the  moths  and  butterflies 
that  we  at  once  think  of  such  forms  when  the  term  is  used.  The 


FIG.  80. — The  cockscomb  gall  of  the  cottonwood  (after  Cook,  Report  of  the 
Indiana  Department  of  Geology  and  Natural  Resources). 

larva  of  the  potato  beetle  grows  rapidly,  feeding  on  the  foliage 
of  the  plants.  As  it  grows  it  molts  and  finally,  at  the  last  molt, 
appears  as  the  adult.  The  adult  winters  in  the  rubbish  on  the 
surface  of  the  ground  or  in  shallow  depressions.  As  a  rule 
neither  the  beetle  nor  its  young  are  eaten  by  the  birds.  Appar- 
ently the  bright  coloration,  the  alternate  stripes  of  black  and 
orange  red  that  mark  the  wing  covers,  serve  as  a  warning  to  most 
birds  that  the  animal  has  a  vile  taste.  There  is  at  least  one 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES 


119 


conspicuous  exception,  however;  both  beetle  and  young  are 
eaten  eagerly  by  the  rose-breasted  grosbeak.  Evidently  tastes 
differ,  even  among  birds. 

The  potato  beetle  originally  belonged  to  the  eastern  slopes  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains  in  Colorado  and  Montana,  where  it  feeds 
upon  the  wild  members  of  the  potato  family.  When  settlers,  in 
pushing  westward,  introduced  the  cultivated  potato  into  its 
neighborhood,  it  was  prompt  to  take  advantage  of  the  new  food 


FIG.  81. — The  potato  beetle:  a,  on  the  potato  plant  (after  Herrick);  b,  the 
larva  (Iowa  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  Bulletin  No  155);  c,  the  adult  (Iowa 
Agricultural  Experiment  Station  Bulletin  No.  155). 

plant,  and  began  its  eastward  migration  about  1859,  arriving  on 
the  Atlantic  Coast  of  Massachusetts  in  1874  (Figs.  82  and  83). 

Ground  beetles. — Among  the  first  beetles  that  will  come  to  the 
attention  of  the  child  who  is  collecting  insects  will  be  the  large 
ground  beetles  that  are  quite  brightly  colored.  They  are  long- 
legged,  predatory  beetles,  coirfmonly  found  hiding  under  stones, 
logs,  and  bits  of  bark,  and  capture  other  insects  by  running  them 
down.  The  largest  of  these  common  ground  beetles,  as  large  as 
the  last  joint  of  the  thumb,  is  iridescent  purple,  with  reddish 


120       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


legs;  this  is  the  fiery  hunter  (Fig.  84).  Another  very  common 
member  of  this  genus,  known  as  the  searcher,  is  about  half  as 
large  as  the  one  just  noted  and  has  a  greenish  body  with  rows  of 
coppery  spots  on  the  wing  covers.  Another  closely  related 
ground  beetle  that  is  a  good  hunter  is  the  bombardier  beetle. 
He  is  a  bluish-green  beetle,  about  half  an  inch  long,  and  has  the 
habit  of  discharging  a  very  irritating  fluid,  in  the  form  of  a  spray, 
from  the  tip  of  the  abdomen.  When  a  bird  or  other  enemy  is 


FIG.  82. — The  potato  beetle's  routes  of  migration,  with  dates  of  arrival  at 
some  localities  (after  Tower). 

about  to  pick  up  the  insect  this  discharge  is  so  surprising  that  it 
gives  the  beetle  a  moment  in  which  to  scamper  to  shelter.  One 
was  dropped  into  an  ants'  nest  that  was  teeming  with  life.  As 
the  ants  seized  it,  it  defended  itself  with  its  spray  and  got  away 
from  one  group  of  ants  only  to  be  caught  by  another.  But  by 
successive  discharges  it  managed  to  reach  the  edge  of  the  large 
nest  and  make  good  its  escape. 

Tiger  beetles. — A  tiger  hunt  certainly  sounds  thrilling  and 
these  insect  tigers  are  quite  as  voracious,  size  considered,  as  the 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES 


121 


122       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


jungle  beast.  They  are  predatory  beetles  found  in  such  open 
places  as  the  lake  shores,  margins  of  streams,  sandy  patches  in 
the  woods  and  fields,  and  along  woodland  paths.  The  tiger 
beetle  is  not  very  large,  being  about  half  an  inch  long,  rather 
slender,  and  having  slender  legs.  It  may  be  of  almost  any  color 
from  black  to  white,  though  the  commoner  forms  are  brownish 
and  are  marked  with  yellow  spots  and  bars  of  intricate  design; 
the  underside  is  iridescent  green.  The  animal  feeds  on  flies  and 
other  small  insects,  on  which  it  pounces  with  tiger-like  ferocity. 
As  it  alights,  after  flying  on  your  approach,  it  almost  always 


FIG.  84. — The  fiery  hunter  and  the  searcher  beetles 

turns  about  so  as  to  face  you.  When  one  is  collecting  beetles, 
there  is  quite  as  much  fascination  in  hunting  these  tigers  as  there 
is  in  tracking  the  great  cat  from  which  they  take  their  name, 
though  this  sport  lacks  the  spice  of  danger. 

Regional  distribution. — It  is  worth  while  to  keep  track  of  the 
region  from  which  specimens  of  the  tiger  beetle  are  obtained,  for 
each  species  seems  to  have  strong  preferences  for  a  particular 
locality.  In  the  Chicago  region,  for  instance,  one  tiger  commonly 
hunts  along  the  lake  shore,  close  to  the  water;  another  is  found 
on  the  loose  sand  of  the  shore;  still  another  is  found  back  where 
the  cottonwoods  are  beginning  to  grow  (Fig.  85).  When  the 
oak  forests,  away  from  the  lake,  are  reached,  a  fourth  species  is 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES  123 

common,  while  in  the  richer  forest  lands,  where  maple  and  beech 
are  growing,  still  another  species  is  found  hunting  along  the  paths. 
Along  the  shores  of  stagnant  pools  there  is* a  different  species, 
while  on  the  moist  clay  hillsides  another  sort  is  common.  Prob- 
ably no  other  group  of  insects  will  give  the  young  collector  a 
better  idea  of  regional  distribution  than  will  this  group  of  the 
tiger  beetles. 

Wood  borers. — A  great  many  beetles  are  wood  borers,  at  least 
in  their  larval  condition.     In  seeking  for  them,  therefore,  it  is  a 


FIG.  Ss.^-Tiger  beetles  on  sand  (X2) 

very  good  plan  to  strip  off  the  bark  from  partly  decayed  logs 
and  stumps.  One  of  the  commonest  of  the  wood-boring  beetles, 
the  horned  Passalus,  is  shown  in  Fig.  86.  The  larvae  of  such 
animals  are  provided  with  horny  jaws,  to  which  powerful  muscles 
attach,  so  that  often  the  mouth  end  of  the  larva  is  conspicuously 
the  larger  end.  It  is  worth  while  to  follow  the  passages  in  a 
rotten  log,  chipping  away  the  wood  with  a  hatchet  or  chisel,  so 
as  to  get  at  the  adult  beetles ;  this  is  especially  true  in  the  spring 
and  early  summer  when  the  larvae  are  likely  to  be  transforming 
into  the  adults.  There  are  many  species  of  wood-boring  beetles 
and  they  do  an  immense  amount  of  damage  to  timber,  for  not  a 


124       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


FIG.  86. — The  horned  Passalus  and  its 
larva,  a  wood  borer. 


few  of  them  attack  the  living  trees,  especially  when  dead  timber 

is  not  abundant.     It  behooves  the  farmer,  therefore,  to  keep  his 

wood  lot  cleaned  up  so  that 
the  wood  borers  will  have 
little  or  no  rotting  material 
in  which  to  deposit  the  eggs 
and  rear  their  young. 

None  of  the  wood  borers 
are  more  interesting  to  the 
novice  than  the  click  beetles. 
The  largest  one  of  these  that 
is  at  all  common  is  a  rather 
long,  somewhat  flattened, 
grayish  beetle,  with  two  large 
eyespots  on  the  thorax  (Fig. 
87).  These  are  not  real  eyes, 
but  simply  spots  that  look 

somewhat  like  eyes  as  we  make  them  in  a  conventional  drawing. 

There  are  some  other  clicks  of  the 

same  general  form  that  are   nut 

brown  in  color.    When  any  of  these 

beetles  are  laid,  back  down,  on  the 

palm  of  the  hand  they  usually  try 

to  right  themselves  by  a  sudden 

backward  jerk   of   the   head   and 

thorax,  and  in  so  doing  make  a 

distinct  click.     It  is  this  peculiar 

movement  that  has  given  the  ani- 
mals their  name. 

Certain  of  the  boring  beetles 

have  very  long  antennae  and  are 

known  as  the  longhorns.     A  typi- 
cal one  is  shown  in  Fig.  88.    These 

beetles  live  chiefly  in  the  wood  of  the  conifers,  and  wherever  these 

trees  are  found  the  beetles  are  plentiful. 


FIG.  87.— The  eyed  elater  (Al- 
aus  oculatus]  and  its  larva. 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES 


125 


Lady  beetles. — While  many  of  the  beetles  are  injurious  to  the 
timber  and  to  the  farm  crops,  there  are  some  that  are  exceedingly 
beneficial.  The  first  that  should  be  mentioned  in  this  connection 
is  the  common  lady  beetle  or  ladybird  (Fig.  89).  Both  the  adult 
and  the  larva  of  many  species  of  this  insect  feed  on  plant  lice 
and  on  other  soft-bodied  bugs  found  on  the  foliage.  Among  the 
worst  enemies  of  our  orange  trees  and  grapefruit  trees  are  some 
species  of  scale  insects.  A  few  years  ago  it  looked  as  if  the  orange 
industry  in  California  was  doomed  because  of  these  little  scales. 
As  the  pest  had  made  its  way  into  this  country  on  fruit  imported 


FIG.  88. — A  longhorn  beetle  whose  larvae  bore  in  pine  logs 

from  Asia  the  Department  of  Agriculture  sent  its  experts  there 
to  find  the  natural  enemies  of  this  particular  scale.  These  men 
brought  back  with  them  some  lady 
beetles  which  they  had  found  preyed 
upon  the  scale  and  liberated  them  in 
the  California  orange  groves.  The 
beetles  took  kindly  to  their  new  en- 
vironment and  busily  set  to  work 
cleaning  out  the  scale  insects.  As  they 
have  multiplied  with  rapidity  they  and  their  progeny  are  keep- 
ing the  pest  well  under  control. 

Flies  and  disease. — There  is  a  whole  legion  of  different  sorts 
of  flies  and  they  vary  in  size  from  the  microscopic  "nosee-um" 


FIG.  89. — Nine-spotted 
ladybird  beetle  and  its  larva. 


126       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

of  the  north  woods  to  some  of  the  huge  flies  that  attack  cattle 
(Fig.  90).  All  have  only  two  wings,  the  second  pair  being 
modified  to  form  a  pair  of  organs  known  as  the  balancers. 
Scientifically  the  group  is  known  as  the  Diptera.  In  it  belong 
many  biting  flies  whose  mouth  parts  are  arranged  in  the  form  of  a 
tube,  provided  at  its  tip  with  lancelets  that  cut  through  the  skin 
to  the  deeper  layers  bearing  blood.  The  common  mosquito  is  an 
example.  In  the  chapter  that  follows  on  the  "Spore-Bearers" 
some  experiments  will  be  given  to  help  demonstrate  that  the  fly 
is  liable  to  carry  disease  germs.  Its  life-habits  make  it  a  dan- 
gerous animal  to  have  about  the  premises.  In  many  cities  the 
house  fly  has  been  practically  exterminated  from  the  residence 


a 


FIG.  90. — Flies:   a,  serphid;  b,  robber  fly 

sections,  at  least,  by  trapping  and  cleaning  out  the  possible 
breeding  places.  The  eggs  are  always  laid  in  decomposing 
organic  matter,  stable  manure  being  a  favorite  place,  though  any 
moist  refuse  may  answer.  The  hairy  legs  and  feet  and  the  sticky 
mouth  parts  are  admirably  adapted  to  transfer  germs  from  place 
to  place.  It  has  been  abundantly  demonstrated  that  some  of  the 
biting  flies  are  the  means  of  the  transfer  of  specific  micro- 
organisms that  cause  disease;  thus  the  sleeping  sickness  of 
Africa  is  occasioned  by  the  bite  of  the  tsetse  fly.  Certain  species 
of  mosquitoes  carry  germs  of  malaria  and  of  yellow  fever. 

It  has  long  been  known  that  the  inhabitants  of  marshy 
grounds  are  prone  to  malaria,  but  it  is  only  in  relatively  recent 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES  127 

times  that  we  have  learned  that  the  real  danger  lies,  not  in  any 
poisonous  exhalations  from  the  marshes,  but  in  the  bite  of  the 
mosquito  infected  with  malaria  germs  because  it  had  bitten  some 
one  suffering  from  the  disease.  We  know,  too,  that  the  ticks, 
the  bedbugs,  the  body  lice,  and  the  fleas,  all  of  which  are  wingless 
and  more  or  less  degenerate  insects  belonging  to  this  group  or  to 
the  bugs,  are  also  disease  carriers.  Not  infrequently  some  other 
animal  serves  as  intermediate  host.  For  instance.,  bubonic 
plague,  the  old  much-dreaded  black  death  of  the  Middle  Ages,  is 
carried  by  the  rat.  The  flea,  which  may  bite  a  rat  and  may  leave 
the  rat  later  for  a  human  host,  transfers  the  germ  from  the  rat 
to  the  human  host.  These  insect  pests  are  therefore  not  only 
disagreeable  but  are  also  a  serious  menace  to  health. 

Collecting. — At  various  points  in  this  chapter  suggestions 
have  been  offered  regarding  the  collection  of  insects.  Of  all  the 
common  animals,  none  lends  itself  so  readily  to  the  purposes 
of  the  amateur  collector  as  this  group.  They  multiply  with  such 
amazing  rapidity  that  one  does  not  hesitate  to  obtain  what 
samples  are  needed  for  the  collection  unless  it  be  in  the  case  of 
the  rarer  sorts  of  butterflies.  The  beetles  are  handled  with  the 
least  trouble,  as  they  have  such  hard  bodies  that  they  need  no 
preparation  to  insure  their  preservation.  After  being  killed  in 
the  manner  to  be  described,  the  beetle  is  pinned  by  thrusting  an 
insect  pin  through  the  right  wing  cover,  well  toward  its  front 
(Fig.  91).  To  make  the  legs  and  feet  show,  put  an  oblong  piece 
of  card  on  the  pin  below  the  beetle;  with  forceps  pull  out  the  feet 
and  make  their  claws  lay  hold  of  the  edges  of  the  card.  Care 
must  be  exercised  when  the  card  is  removed,  after  three  or  four 
days,  that  the  feet  do  not  break.  Ordinarily  let  the  legs  assume 
what  position  they  will.  The  insect  should  be  run  up  pretty 
well  toward  the  head  of  the  pin,  just  leaving  room  to  grasp  the 
head,  so  that  there  will  be  plenty  of  pin  on  which  to  impale  the 
labels  and  to  stick  firmly  into  the  cork  that  lines  the  insect  box. 
The  label  is  a  small  oblong  card  on  which  is  the  insect's  name,  the 
locality  where  found,  the  date,  and  possibly  a  number  reference 
to  the  notes. 


128        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

The  net. — An  insect  net  is  a  desirable  adjunct  for  the  collector. 
The  frame  can  be  made  in  the  same  way  as  that  described  for 
the  net  to  be  used  in  collecting  animals  of  pond  and  stream 
(p.  30) ,  but  it  need  not  be  made  of  as  heavy  wire.  If  the  diameter 
of  the  net  frame  is  ten  inches,  the  net  should  be  at  least  twenty- 
four  inches  deep;  it  is  best  made  of  bobinet  as  that  will  wear 
longest.  Even  with  a  large  net  it  will  require  some  practice 


FIG.  91. — Beetle  collection 

before  one  can  capture  a  butterfly  on  the  wing.  If  the  insect 
is  at  rest  a  quick  sweep  will  get  it  into  the  net,  when  the  handle 
should  be  so  turned  that  the  net  hangs  over  the  edge  of  the  wire 
frame,  confining  the  insect  in  the  net.  It  may  be  killed  by 
squirting  on  it,  while  in  the  net,  a  few  drops  of  gasoline,  which  is 
conveniently  carried  in  a  bicycle  oil  can  while  out  collecting;  or 
the  insect  may  be  put  into  the  killing  bottle. 

The  killing  bottle. — Place  three  or  four  lumps  of  potassium 
cyanide  as  large  as  the  last  joint  of  your  finger  in  a  wide-mouthed 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES 


129 


bottle  or  small  fruit  jar.  This  must  be  handled  with  care,  for, 
although  it  is  not  poisonous  to  the  touch  unless  there  is  a  scratch 
or  other  break  in  the  skin,  it  is  very  poisonous  if  taken  in  the 
mouth;  all  bits  should  therefore  be  picked  up  carefully  and  the 
cyanide  bottle  should  not  be  left  where  young  children  can  reach 
it.  Keep  it  tightly  corked  and  plainly  labeled.  Mix  a  teacupful 
of  plaster  of  Paris  with  water,  stirring  the  water  into  the  plaster 
until  it  is  the  consistency  of  very  thick  cream.  Pour  this  over 


FIG.  92. — The  spreading-board  and  cyanide  bottle 

the  cyanide  in  the  bottle,  covering  it  completely.  In  a  very  few 
minutes  it  will  set  hard,  when  any  water  remaining  on  its  surface 
may  be  drained  off.  Potassium  cyanide  absorbs  moisture  from 
the  air  and  liquefies  and  keeps  the  plaster  saturated  with  the 
cyanide,  fumes  of  which  fill  the  bottle  (Fig.  92).  The  fumes  in 
this  bottle  are  dangerous  even  for  a  person  to  inhale,  and  an 
insect  dropped  into  the  bottle  is  killed  in  a  very  few  seconds. 
After  the  insects  are  captured  it  is  well  to  leave  them  in  the  killing 
bottle  so  that  their  bodies  will  be  saturated  with  the  fumes; 
they  are  not  so  likely  then  to  be  riddled  by  the  tiny  insects  that 


130       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

so  often  do  damage  to  collections.  Insects  like  the  bugs  and  the 
bees  and  wasps  may  be  pinned  by  running  a  pin  of  proper  size 
through  the  thorax.  Dragon  flies,  moths,  butterflies,  and  the 
like  must  be  spread  so  that  the  wings  will  remain  expanded  in  the 
collection. 

The  spreading-board.— This  is  most  readily  accomplished  on  a 
spreading-board  (Fig.  92)  made  as  follows:  By  means  of  two  end 
strips  fasten  together  two  soft-pine  boards  a  foot  or  more  long 
and  three  or  four  inches  wide  so  that  they  will  incline  toward  each 
other  slightly,  with  a  groove  between  them  that  is  a  little  wider 
than  the  insect's  body.  About  a.  half -inch  below  this  groove 
fasten  another  strip  of  pine  or  of  sheet  cork.  Run  the  pin 
through  the  thorax  of  the  insect  and  then  set  it  into  this  strip,  the 
body  of  the  insect  in  the  groove.  Fasten  the  wings  in  position 
on  the  boards  by  means  of  narrow  strips  of  paper  pinned  across 
them  without  running  pins  through  the  wings.  The  hind 
margins  of  the  forewings  should  make  a  straight  line  that  is  at 
right  angles  to  the  longitudinal  axis  of  the  body.  After  the 
insect  has  been  on  the  spreading-board  for  several  days  it  may  be 
removed  and  put  in  the  insect  box.  While  it  is  spreading  it 
should  be  kept  in  a  drawer  or  box  away  from  mice  and  insect  pests. 

The  collection. — The  box  in  which  the  insects  are  kept  should 
have  strips  of  cork  or  thin  sections  cut  from  an  ordinary  cork 
glued  to  its  bottom  to  take  the  pins.  Cigar  boxes  that  are  deep 
.answer  very  well  for  the  amateur  collector.  Insect  boxes  may 
be  purchased  from  any  dealer  in  entomological  supplies.  To 
keep  insect  pests  out  of  the  collection  place  a  moth  ball  in  each 
box.  Such  moth  balls,  in  the  form  of  cones  attached  to  pins, 
can  be  bought  of  the  dealers.  For  butterflies  or  moths,  dragon 
flies,  and  any  of  the  large  and  fragile  insects  individual  mounting 
boxes  made  of  glass  are  worth  while.  Cut  strips  of  pasteboard 
a  quarter-inch  wide  or  wider  for  the  thick-bodied  moths.  Using 
passe-partout  paper  bind  these  strips  along  the  edge  of  a  piece  of 
glass  like  a  cleaned-up,  small  negative;  a  second  similar  glass 
will  be  used  for  the  cover.  Thrust  a  short  pin  through  the 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES  131 

center  of  a  slice  of  a  small  cork  and  glue  this  to  the  bottom  of  the 
box,  the  pin  point  up.  The  insect  that  has  been  spread  without 
a  pin  through  it  is  impaled  on  this  pin.  When  the  insect  is 
properly  arranged  in  the  box,  put  on  the  cover  and  finish  binding 
with  the  passe-partout  paper.  Boxes  somewhat  like  this  are  to 
be  obtained  ready-made  from  Denton  Brothers,  Wellesley, 
Massachusetts.  Wood  strips,  cut  to  various  lengths,  to  use  in 
place  of  the  pasteboard  can  be  purchased  cheaply  of  A.  I.  Root, 
Medina,  Ohio. 

Insect  relatives. — In  the  haunts  of  the  insects  are  to  be  found 
some  other  animals,  close  relatives  of  theirs,  that  are  among  the 
most  wonderful  in  the  world — the  thousand  legs  and  the  spiders. 
When  hunting  insect  larvae  or  beetles,  under  the  bark  of  old  logs> 


FIG.  93. — Sporobolus,  the  millipede 

you  are  sure  to  find  the  thousand  legs  or  myriapods.  They 
scurry  off  with  such  haste  when  #ght  is  let  in  on  them  that  one 
might  suspect  their  deeds  were  evil,  but,  on  the  contrary,  they 
are  scavengers,  feeding  largely  on  dead  animals  that  would  soon 
make  the  woods  and  fields  offensive  were  it  not  for  them,  a 
sanitary  force  that  is  ever  watchful  to  make  way  with  defunct 
organisms.  There  is  one  sort,  Lithobius,  that  is  flat  and 
does  not  have  so  very  many  legs;  hildren  usually  call  them 
centipedes,  though  they  are  not  truly  such.  Another  kind  is 
round  and  of  many  sizes;  even  the  small  ones,  like  Julus,  are 
interesting,  but  the  big  round  one  (Sporobolus),  that  grows  to  be 
three  or  four  inches  long  and  as  big  around  as  the  little  finger, 
gives  such  a  clever  display  of  the  use  of  its  many  legs  that  it  is 
fascinating  (Fig.  93).  Watch  it  walk  or  run  and  see  if  you  can 


132        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


FIG.  94. — Front  view  of 
spider  (Lycosa),  showing 
mandibles  and  palps. 


keep  track  of  the  way  in  which  it  moves  its  legs.     What  would 
happen  if  the  beast  should  have  a  spell  of  awkwardness! 

Spiders. — Like  the  myriapods,  the  spiders  have  more  legs 
than  the  insects;  not  so  many  more,  however,  as  they  only  have 
four  pairs,  while  the  insects  have  three. 
In  spiders  the  head  and  thorax  are  fused 
together  into  one  mass,  while  in  insects 
they  are  quite  distinct.  Spiders  do  not 
possess  the  compound  eyes  so  common 
among  the  insects,  but  they  do  have 
several  pairs  of  simple  eyes  which  enable 
them  to  see  only  at  close  range.  Prob- 
ably the  most  interesting  structures  of 
spiders,  in  the  popular  mind,  are  their 
fangs,  used  for  biting,  and  the  spinnerets  that  produce  the  web 
(Figs.  94  and  95). 

Their  poison. — It  is  too  bad  that  most  adult  humans  are,  like 
Miss  Muffit,  ready  to  run  from  a  spider;  they  are  such  interesting 
animals  and  all  that  we  have  in  the  North  are  quite  harmless. 
Even  the  so-called  tarantula,  that  comes  to  us  occasionally  in  a 
bunch  of  bananas,  is  not  fero- 
cious and  may  be  handled 
with  impunity.  True,  all 
spiders  have  a  pair  of  heavy 
mandibles  or  jaws,  ending  in 
sharp  claws  that  are  used  to 
pierce  the  bodies  of  their  vic- 
tims; in  these  claws,  too,  are 
the  openings  of  the  poison 
ducts  that  discharge  the  par- 
alyzing fluid  into  the  prey.  But  the  spider  sees  that  man  is  no 
proper  victim;  indeed,  it  is  so  afraid  that  it  invariably  tries  to 
run  away.  Even  when  handled  the  spiders  will  not  bite,  as  a 
rule;  and  even  if  they  should,  the  bite  is  no  more  than  a  pin 
prick  and  not  as  serious  as  that  of  a  mosquito.  Some  of  the 


FIG.  95. — A  spider's  spinnerets,  jointed 
organs,  the  ends  of  which  are  covered  with 
fine  tubes  from  which  the  silk  comes. 


INSECTS  AND, INSECT  ALLIES  133 

Old  World  tarantulas  have  nasty  reputations,  but  it  is  doubtful 
if  any  of  them  ever  inflict  a  really  dangerous  bite.  A  generation 
ago,  however,  the  peasants  of  some  countries  in  Southern  Europe 
believed  the  bite  was  fatal  unless  the  sufferer  could  be  induced 
to  dance  hilariously  and  persistently  until  the  dance  music 
charmed  away  the  evil.  Such  music  that  will  make  the  victim 
dance  in  spite  of  himself  is  a  tarantella. 

The  spider's  silk. — The  silk  glands  lie  in  the  abdomen  and 
discharge  their  secretion  through  the  spinnerets  and  in  some 
species  through  a  perforated  plate  also.  There  are  three  pairs 
of  spinnerets,  each  with  many  openings  through  which  a  variety 
of  different  kinds  of  silk  may  be  emitted  as  the  spider  has  need 
(Fig.  95).  The  spider  uses  its  hind  legs  to  manipulate  the  silk 
as  it  comes  from  the  spinnerets.  The  thread  that  goes  into  the 
web  is  made  of  many  strands;  in  some  species  it  is  made  of 
thousands.  It  makes  an  interesting  school  exercise  to  have  the 
children  report  the  different  kinds  of  spiders'  webs  that  they  can 
find.  It  sharpens  their  eyes  and  their  wits,  too,  as  they  try  to 
describe  what  they  have  seen.  They  will  probably  report  finding 
many  spiders  that  are  not  living  in  webs  at  all,  the  wandering 
spiders  that  capture  their  prey  without  a  trap.  Then  they  will 
find  irregular  nets,  consisting  of  silken  strands  that  run  every 
which  way,  and  sheet  webs,  plain  stretches  of  fine-spun  gossamer, 
that  make  themselves  apparent  largely  by  the  dust  they  collect. 
Both  these  sorts  are  common  about  the  house  and  are  known  as 
cobwebs.  In  the  grass  outstretched  sheet  webs  will  commonly 
be  found  that  lead  at  one  side  to  a  funnel  in  the  throat  of  which 
is  the  spider's  lair.  These  funnel  webs  are  especially  conspicuous 
in  the  morning  after  a  dew.  Likely  the  webs  that  will  attract 
most  attention  are  those  made  of  silken  strands  stretched  out  in 
complicated  patterns  like  delicate  lacework;  such  are  the  orb 
webs  and  the  triangular  webs.  In  addition  there  will  be  reported 
webs  that  are  admixtures  of  these  several  distinct  sorts. 

Building  the  web. — No  task  will  make  the  pupils  more  appre- 
ciative of  the  spider's  inherent  skill  than  to  watch  and  report  on 


134       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

the  method  of  construction  of  one  of  these  orb  builder's  webs. 
It  is  made  of  two,  sometimes  three,  distinct  kinds  of  threads: 
the  hard,  inelastic  kind  that  forms  the  foundation,  on  which  the 
spider  walks;  the  viscid,  elastic  threads,  laid  on  to  entrap  the 
prey;  and  in  some  webs  a  ribbon  of  fine  threads  that  the  spider 
builds  as  a  broad  highway  for  itself.  Without  describing  the 
method  of  building,  attention  may  be  called  to  the  several  parts 
of  such  a  web.  There  are  (i)  the  bridges,  the  outermost  threads 
that  the  spider  uses  to  get  from  point  to  point  to  lay  (2)  the 
foundations;  (3)  the  radii;  (4)  the  spiral  guy  line,  put  in  to  keep 
the  radii  taut  and  in  place;  (5)  the  hub,  at  the  very  center,  sur- 
rounded by  (6)  a  notched  zone,  beyond  which  is  (7)  the  free  zone, 
and  finally  there  is  (8)  the  viscid  spiral.  There  may  be  also  the 
broad  highway  of  fine-spun  silk  ribbon,  laid  zigzag  from  the 
center,  known  as  the  stabilimentum.  This  is  the  signature  of 
Argiope  to  its  handiwork,  for  no  other  genus  of  spiders  adds  it; 
sometimes  even  Argiope  fails  to  put  on  its  trade-mark  (Fig.  96). 

The  use  of  the  web. — Quite  as  fascinating  as  the  building  of  the 
web  is  its  method  of  use.  Watch  as  some  blundering  fly  or 
grasshopper  strikes  the  outspread  net.  The  spider,  waiting  at 
the  center  or  in  its  retreat  off  at  one  side,  feels  the  shock  of 
contact,  the  victim's  vicious  pulls  on  the  sticky  threads  as  it  tries 
to  escape.  If  it  is  a  small  animal  the  spider  likely  bites  it  at  once 
and  so  paralyzes  it,  then  leisurely  sucks  its  blood.  But  if  the 
insect  is  a  large  one,  the  spider  must  entangle  its  legs  in  silken 
folds  so  that  it  may  not  rip  the  web  to  pieces  and  escape. 
Darting  up  to  the  animal,  spinning  as  it  goes  a  sheet  of  silk,  it 
deftly  thrusts  the  sticky  silk  on  the  insect,  emits  more  and  more 
of  it,  and  winds  it  up  in  the  shroud  so  thoroughly  that  it  soon 
ceases  to  struggle.  The  spider  then  gives  it  its  quietus  with  her 
poison  fangs  and  returns  repeatedly  to  the  feast  until  it  is  sucked 
dry,  when  the  remains  are  thrown  out  of  the  web. 

Courtship. — The  male  spiders  customarily  build  a  much  less 
complicated  web  than  the  females.  As  a  rule,  too,  they  are  much 
smaller  animals  with  longer  legs.  Courtship  is,  for  the  male,  a 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES  135 

hazardous  undertaking,  for  if  the  lady  spider  is  in  no  mood  to 
receive  his  advances  she  is  very  likely  to  seize  him  and  make  a 
meal  of  her  would-be  suitor.  If  she  is  amiable  he  is  permitted  to 
occupy  her  web  with  her.  In  many  species  of  spiders  the  male 
approaches  the  female  with  complicated  dance  steps  that  appear 


FIG.  96. — The  orb  builder  Argiope;  another  specimen  in  an  adjacent  web  is 
seen  indistinctly;  in  front  of  it  is  seen  the  silk  shroud  of  a  recently  killed  locust. 

to  help  ingratiate  him  into  her  favor.     His  antics  effectively  rival 
even  the  most  assiduous  efforts  of  the  modern  dancing  master. 

Ballooning  spiders. — In  the  late  summer  or  early  fall  there 
come  days  when  all  the  spinning  spiders  seem  possessed  of  a  desire 
to  see  the  world  and  nothing  will  do  but  each  must  spin  his  silken 
aeroplane  and  sail  away  in  quest  of  no  one  knows  what.  Each 
young  spider,  for  it  seems  to  be  largely  the  youngsters  that  are 


136       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

so  venturesome,  mounts  some  pinnacle — a  tall  grass  stalk  or 
weed,  a  towering  shrub  or  fence  post — and  there  lets  out  of  his 
spinnerets  fluffy  masses  of  silk  that  catch  the  breeze,  lift  him  off 
his  feet,  and  carry  him,  sailing,  through  the  air.  Sometimes 
the  wind  is  too  strong  and  it  carries  the  silk  off,  as  fast  as  it  is 
spun,  in  a  long  streamer,  and  then  all  over  the  fields  and 
shrubbery  there  lie  these  silken  strands  that  gleam  like  silver  in 
the  morning  sun. 


FIG.  97.— Wolf  spider  with  egg  cocoons;  at  left,  cocoons  of  several  spiders; 
at  right,  one  of  these  enlarged. 

The  wanderers. — Probably  children  will  come  to  know  the 
wandering  spiders  sooner  than  the  net  builders,  since  they  are  so 
common  everywhere.  Here  belong  the  wolf  spiders  that  live 
for  the  most  part  on  the  ground  and  run  down  their  insect  prey. 
The  females  carry  their  globular,  silken  egg  sacs  around  with 
them  wherever  they  go  (Fig.  97).  The  commoner  jumping 
spiders  are  black  and  gray,  with  very  large  heads.  They  leap 
upon  their  victims  and  can  make  record-breaking  jumps,  con- 
sidering their  size.  The  most  likely  place  to  look  for  representa- 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES  137 

tives  of  the  crab  spider  is  in  the  flower  cluster  of  some  such  plant 
as  the  wild  carrot,  parsnip,  or  daisy.  These  are  flattened  animals 
with  crablike  legs  and  gait.  Not  all  the  crab  spiders  have  the 
ambushing  habit  of  these.  They  lie  in  wait  for  some  insect  that 
is  seeking  nectar,  in  order  that  they  may  pounce  upon  it  while 
effectively  hidden  in  the  blossom  cluster,  their  colors  harmonizing 
with  those  of  the  flowers. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

NOTE. — Bulletins  and  circulars  marked  with  an  asterisk  (*)  in  the  list  are  to  be 
obtained  from  the  Superintendent  of  Documents,  Washington,  D.C.,  and  the  price 
is  five  cents  unless  otherwise  specified.  Many  other  titles  can  be  obtained  from 
the  same  source  and  a  price  list  of  all  such  will  be  sent  on  application. 

Farmers'  Bulletins  are  issued  by  the  United  States  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, Washington,  D.C. 

American  Boys'  Book  of  Bugs,  Butterflies,  and  Beetles.    Dan  Beard.    Phila- 
delphia: J.  B.  Lippincott  Co.    $2.00. 

American  Insects.  V.  L.  Kellogg.  New  York:  Henry  Holt  &  Co.  $4 .  oo. 
Ants.  W.  M.  Wheeler.  New  York:  Columbia  University  Press.  $5.00. 
Aquatic  Insects  of  the  Adirondacks.  Needham  and  Betten.  Bulletin  No. 

47,  New  York  State  Museum.    $0.45. 
*Army  Worm,  Fall,  and  Variegated  Cut  Worm.    Bulletin  No.  29,  New  Series, 

Bureau  of  Entomology.    $0.05. 

*  Bedbugs.     Circular  No.  47,  Second  Series,  Bureau  of  Entomology. 
Bee  Culture,  The  A  B  C  and  X  Y  Z  of.   Medina,  Ohio:  The  A.  I.  Root  Co. 
Bee,  The  Life  of  the.    Maurice  Maeterlinck.    New  York:   Dodd,  Mead 

&Co.    $1.50. 

*Bee  Keeping.     Frank  Berton.     Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  59. 
*Bees.    E.  F.  Phillips.     Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  447. 
Bees,  How  to  Keep.    Anna  Botsford   Comstock.    Ithaca,   N.Y.:    The 

Comstock  Publishing  Co.     $i .  oo. 
*Beetles,  Value  of  Predaceous,  in  Destroying  Insect  Pests.    Yearbook  Separate 

No.  583,  U.S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 
*Brown-tail  Moth  and  How  to   Control  It.    L.   O.   Howard.     Farmers' 

Bulletin  No.  264.     (See  Gipsy  Moth.) 

Butterflies  and  Bees.    M.  W.  Morley.    Boston:  Ginn  &  Co.    $0.60. 
Butterflies   of  Eastern   North   America.     G.   H.    French.     Philadelphia: 
J.  B.  Lippincott  Co.     $2.00. 


138       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Butterfly  and  Moth  Book.    Ellen  Robertson  Miller.    New  York:    Chas. 

Scribner  and  Sons.     $i .  50. 
Butterfly  Book.    W.  J.  Holland.     New  York:    Doubleday,  Page  &  Co. 

$4 .  oo. 

Butterfly  Guide,  A  Pocket  Manual.     W.  J.  HoUand.     New  York:  Double- 
day,  Page  &  Co.     $i  .00. 
Butterfly,  The  Life  of  a.    Samuel  H.  Scudder.     New  York:  Henry  Holt 

&  Co.    $1.00. 

Buzz.    M.Noel.    New  York:  Henry  Holt  &  Co.     $1.00. 
*Cabbage  Bug,  The  Harlequin.     Circular  No.  10,  Second  Series,  Bureau  of 

Entomology. 
*Carpet  Beetle  or  "Buffalo  Moth."    Circular  No.  5,  Second  Series,  Bureau 

of  Entomology. 
Caterpillars  and  Their  Moths.    Eliot  and  Soule.     New  York:  The  Century 

Co.    $2.00. 

*Cicada,  The  Periodical.     Bulletin  No.  14,  New  Series,  Bureau  of  Ento- 
mology.    $0.15. 

* 'Cockroaches.     Circular  No.  51,  Second  Series,  Bureau  of  Entomology. 
*Codling  Moth  and  Apple  Scabs,  The  Control  of.     Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  247. 
*  Cornstalk-Borer,  The  Large.     Circular  No.  16,  Second  Series,  Bureau  of 

Entomology. 
*Cotton  Boll  Weevil,  Mexican.     Bulletin  No.  51,  New  Series,  Bureau  of 

Entomology.     $0.15. 
*Cotton  Boll  Weevil,  Mexican.     Annotated  Bibliography  of.     Circular  No. 

140,  Second  Series,  Bureau  of  Entomology. 
Dragon  Flies  of  Illinois.     Bulletin  No.  in.     State  Laboratory  of  Natural 

History,  Vol.  VI,  September,  1901. 
Dragon  Flies  of  Indiana,  in  the  twenty-fourth  Annual  Report,  Indiana 

Dept.  of  Geology  and  Natural  History. 
Entomology,  Elementary.     Sanderson  and  Jackson.     Boston:   Ginn  &  Co. 

$2 .  oo. 
Fly,  The  Life  of  the.    J.  Henri  Fabre.     New  York:    Dodd,  Mead  &  Co. 

$i .  50. 

*Gipsy  M oth  in  America.     Bulletin  No.  n,  New  Series,  Bureau  of  Ento- 
mology. 
*Gipsy  Moth  and  Brown-tail  Moth,  Report  on.     Circular  No.  58,  Second 

Series,  Bureau  of  Entomology. 
*Gipsy  Moth  and  Brown-tail  Moth  with  Suggestions  for   Their   Control. 

Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  564. 
*Gipsy  Moth  and  How  to  Control  It.    L.  O.  Howard.     Farmers'  Bulletin 

No.  275. 
*Eessian  Fly.     Circular  No.  70,  Second  Series,  Bureau  of  Entomology. 


INSECTS  AND  INSECT  ALLIES  139 

*House  Flies.    L.  O.  Howard.     Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  459. 
House  Fly,  Disease  Carrier.    L.  O.  Howard.    New  York:   Frederick  A. 

Stokes.    $1.60. 
^Household  Insects  of  the  United  States,  Principal.     Bulletin  No.  4,  Bureau 

of  Entomology.     $o.  10. 
^Household  Insects,  Hydrocyanic  Acid  Gas  against.     Circular  No.    163, 

Bureau  of  Entomology. 
*How  Insects  Affect  Health  in  Rural  Districts.     L.  O.  Howard.     Farmers' 

Bulletin  No.  155. 

Insects.     Hyatt  and  Arms.     Boston:  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.     $1.25. 
Insects.     David  Sharp.     Cambridge  Natural  History,  Vols.  V  and  VI. 

New  York:  The  Macmillan  Co.    $4.00. 
^Insects  Affecting  Domestic  Animals.     Bulletin  No.  5,  New  Series,  Bureau 

of  Entomology.     $o .  20.  * 

*  Insects  as  Carriers  and  Spreaders  of  Disease.     Yearbook  Separate  No.  235, 

U.S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 
^Insects  Injurious  to  the  Wood  of  Living  Trees.     Circular  No.  126,  Second 

Series,  Bureau  of  Entomology. 
*Insects  of  Deciduous  Fruits  (Apple,  Grape,  Peach,  Pear).     Bulletin  No.  68, 

Bureau  of  Entomology.     $0.25. 
^Insects  Injurious  to  Forest  Products.     Circular  No.  128,  Second  Series, 

Bureau  of  Entomology. 
Insects  Injurious  to  the  Household.     Glenn  W.  Herrick.     New  York:  The 

Macmillan  Co.     $1.75. 
^Insects  Injurious  to  the  Wood  of  Dying  Trees.     Circular  No.  127,  Second 

Series,  Bureau  of  Entomology. 
*Insects  Injurious  to  the  Wood  of  Living  Trees.     Circular  No.  126,  Second 

Series,  Bureau  of  Entomology. 
Insects,  Life  Histories  of  American.     Clarence  M.  Weed.     New  York: 

The  Macmillan  Co.     $i .  50. 

*Insects,  Some,  Injurious  to  Forests.    Bulletin  No.   58,  Bureau  of  Ento- 
mology.    $0.35. 
^Insects,  Some,  Injurious  to   Truck  Crops.     Bulletin  No.  82,  Bureau  of 

Entomology.     $o .  30. 
*Insects,  Some,  Injurious  to  Vegetable  Crops.     Bulletin  No.  33,  New  Series, 

Bureau  of  Entomology.     $o .  10. 
*Locusts,  Destructive.     Bulletin  No.  25,  Old  Series,  Bureau  of  Entomology. 

$0.15. 

*Malaria,  Some  Facts  about.     L.  O.  Howard.     Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  450. 
Manual  for  the  Study  of  Insects.    John  H.  Comstock.   Ithaca,  N.Y. :  The 

Comstock  Publishing  Co.    $3.75. 


140       SOURCE  BOOK  OP  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

*Maple  Scale,  Cottony.     Circular  No.  64,  Second  Series,  Bureau  of  Ento- 
mology. 
*Mites  and  Lice  on  Poultry.     Circular  No.  92,  Second  Series,  Bureau  of 

Entomology. 

Mosquitoes.    L.  O.  Howard.    New  York:  McClure,  Phillips  &  Co.    $1.50. 
^Mosquitoes,  Remedies  and  Preventatives .     Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  444. 
Moth  Book,  The.    W.  J.  Holland.    New  York:   Doubleday,  Page  &  Co. 

$4.00. 
Nature  Sketches  in  Temperate  America.    Joseph  L.  Hitchcock.     Chicago: 

A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co.    $3 .00. 
^Notable  Depredations  by  Forest  Insects.    Yearbook  Separate  No.  442,  U.S. 

Dept.  of  Agriculture. 
*San  Jose  or  Chinese  Scale.     Bulletin  No.  62,  New  Series,  Bureau  of 

Entomology.    $0.25. 
*San  Jose  Scale  and  Its  Control.     Circular  No.  124,  Second  Series,  Bureau 

of  Entomology. 
*Squash  Bug,  The  Common.     Circular  No.  39,  Second  Series,  Bureau  of 

Entomology.   . 
Spider  Book,  The.    John  H.  Comstock.    New  York:  Doubleday,  Page  & 

Co.    $4 .  oo. 

The  Common  Spiders.    J.  H.  Emerton.    Boston:  Ginn  &  Co.     $1.50. 
The  Spinner  Family.    Alice  J.  Patterson.     Chicago:  A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co. 

$1.25. 


CHAPTER  IV 
BIRDS 

Interest  in  birds. — Popular  interest  in  the  study  of  birds  has 
recently  increased  very  rapidly.  This  is  in  part  due  to  the 
increasing  realization  of  the  economic  importance  of  birds  and  in 
part  to  the  eminently  successful  work  of  the  National  Audubon 
Association  and  of  other  similar  societies.  Effective  new  legis- 
lation, both  state  and  federal,  looking  toward  the  protection  of 
birds,  especially  the  non-game  sorts,  reflects  a  public  sentiment 
that  is  coming  to  be  more  and  more  appreciative  of  both  the 
aesthetic  and  economic  value  of  birds.  In  cities,  at  least,  it  is 
very  noticeable  that  the  parks  and  other  likely  places  are  now 
frequented  by  large  numbers  of  amateur  observers,  whereas  a 
few  years  ago  the  individual  with  a  bird  glass  was  an  object  of 
curiosity.  In  many  localities  it  is  so  commonplace  to  find 
children  acquainted  with  the  common  birds  that  the  boy  or  girl 
who  does  not  know  them  on  sight  is  the  exception.  It  has  been 
the  experience  of  many  teachers  in  normal  schools  and  similar 
institutions  that  the  pupils  now  coming  up  from  the  grades  have 
a  very  respectable  acquaintance  with  the  commoner  forms  of 
nature,  including  the  ordinary  birds. 

Beginners  in  bird-study. — It  is  very  interesting  to  note  what 
different  replies  are  given  to  the  question,  "  How  many  different 
kinds  of  birds  do  you  think  there  are  in  this  region  ?  "  The  usual 
answer  of  the  novice  is,  "About  twenty, "  while  some  student,  who 
has  attempted  to  learn  the  birds  and  has  been  impressed  with 
their  variety,  is  likely  to  go  to  the  other  extreme  and  reply,  "Oh, 
a  thousand  or  more." 

To  one  who  is  beginning  the  study  of  birds  the  task  of  learning 
to  recognize  the  birds  of  a  region  at  sight  seems  almost  hopeless. 
The  same  bird  may  be  encountered  in  many  localities  and  from 

141 


142       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

many  points  of  view  and  each  time  may  appear  so  different  that 
the  student  becomes  discouraged.  He  is  fortunate  who  has  the 
help  of  an  instructor  who  is  so  familiar  with  the  birds  that  he  can 
point  out  the  distinguishing  characters  and  so  make  this  first 
season  less  difficult.  If  the  student,  working  alone,  knows 
surely  five  birds  at  the  end  of  the  first  few  weeks  of  bird-study 
he  has  accomplished  much,  and  he  will  learn  the  next  twenty-five 
with  comparative  ease.  After  that  the  student's  progress  is  so 
rapid  that  his  enthusiasm  will  know  no  bounds.  One  must  be 
ready  to  devote  some  little  time  and  attention  to  bird-study  to 
succeed.  It  is  well  to  follow  patiently,  with  the  field  glasses, 
some  one  bird  until  its  distinguishing  features  are  quite  surely 
fixed  in  mind  and  its  song  and  habits  are  moderately  familiar,  for 
the  bird  student  comes  to  know  his  birds  quite  as  much  by  their 
carriage,  flight,  idiosyncracies  of  behavior,  and  voice  as  by  their 
conspicuous  markings  and  size.  When  one  bird  has  been  learned 
well  enough  to  make  identification  certain,  another  one  can  be 
added  to  the  list. 

Helps.— The  Land  Birds,  by  Chester  A.  Reed,  and  The  Water 
Birds,  which  together  give  reasonably  accurate  colored  pictures 
of  all  the  birds  of  Eastern  United  States  and  Canada,  and  The 
Handbook  of  Birds  of  Eastern  North  America,  by  Frank  M. 
Chapman,  are  among  the  best  of  the  bird  books;  the  former  is 
especially  good  for  beginners  in  bird-study.  A  great  many 
pamphlets  and  reports  can  be  obtained  from  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture  and  many  of  the  states  issue  valuable 
reports.  A  list  of  some  of  the  more  important  of  these  is  given 
in  the  bibliography.  Many  of  the  publications  can  be  obtained 
gratuitously  through  your  congressman,  while  others  are  for  free 
distribution  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture.  Some  of  them 
must  be  purchased  of  the  Superintendent  of  Documents, 
Washington,  D.C.,  from  whom  can  be  obtained,  on  request,  a  list 
with  the  very  low  prices. 

One  of  the  most  important  agencies,  if  not  the  most  important, 
for  spreading  knowledge  of  our  birds  and  interest  in  them, 


BIRDS  143 

especially  among  school  children,  is  the  Audubon  Association, 
with  headquarters  at  1975  Broadway,  New  York  City,  and 
branches  in  the  various  states.  The  Association  publishes  a  very 
superior  bird  magazine,  Bird  Lore,  and  many  valuable  pamphlets, 
and  issues  a  number  of  colored  pictures  of  the  birds,  together 
with  descriptive  leaflets  and  outline  sketches  of  the  commoner 
birds,  the  latter  to  be  colored  by  the  pupils.  The  Association  will 
gladly  send  lists  of  these  together  with  other  information  to  any 
teacher  applying  to  its  secretary. 

Methods  of  bird-study. — Bird-study  must  largely  be  an 
individual  matter;  it  is  difficult  to  conduct  class  instruction,  for 
as  a  rule  the  birds  are  shy  of  the  noise  and  appearance  of  many 
people.  If,  however,  a  large  group  must  make  this  study  it  is 
advisable  to  divide  it  into  smaller  groups,  and  it  is  about  as  well 
for  the  pupils  to  sit  down  in  secluded  spots  and  wait  for  the  birds 
to  appear  as  it  is  to  walk  around  and  try  to  find  the  birds.  The 
teacher  can  move  from  group  to  group,  helping  to  identify  the 
birds  that  are  reported.  As  an  aid  to  observation  the  children 
may  be  provided  with  some  sort  of  a  blank  to  be  filled  in,  such 
as  the  one  suggested  in  the  Field  and  Laboratory  Guide  in  Bio- 
logical Nature  Study  or  in  the  Comstock  Bird  Study  Note  Book. 

A  bird  calendar. — When  the  children  are  once  started  on  their 
observation  and  identification  of  the  birds,  an  excellent  device  for 
stimulating  interest  is  a  bird  calendar.  Decorate  a  large  sheet  of 
paper  or  an  area  of  the  blackboard  with  an  attractive  heading  and 
below  this  enter  the  date  of  the  first  reported  appearance  of  any 
given  species,  the  name  of  the  species,  and  the  name  of  the  child 
that  first  accurately  reports  it.  The  calendar  may  be  kept  running 
during  the  spring  months  when  the  birds  are  arriving,  modified  to 
take  record  of  the  nesting  dates  and  appearance  of  the  young  birds, 
and  again  used  in  the  fall  when  the  birds  are  moving  southward. 

Map  of  nest  sites. — Another  excellent  device  is  to  map  the 
region  in  which  the  school  is  located,  indicating  the  streets  or 
roads,  the  houses  or  farms,  and  then  to  designate  by  red  dots  or 
numbers  the  location  of  the  birds'  nests  in  which  young  are  being 


144       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

reared.  It  is  surprising  how  many  birds  there  are  nesting  even  in 
the  residence  portions  of  the  large  cities.  In  one  block  of  Chicago, 
with  which  the  author  is  familiar,  in  the  spring  of  1915  there  were 
twenty-seven  birds'  nests,  including  those  of  the  brown  thrasher, 
catbird,  bluebird,  robin,  oriole,  blue  jay,  song  sparrow,  red-headed 
woodpecker,  flicker,  screech  owl,  chimney  swift,  and  house  wren. 
Types  of  nests. — In  such  work  the  pupils  will  be  certain  to 
learn  much  about  the  varying  types  of  construction  used  by  the 


FIG.  98. — The  woven  nest  of  the  oriole 

birds  in  building  their  nests.  The  swaying  woven  nest  of  the 
oriole  (Fig.  98)  represents  nearly,  if  not  quite,  the  climax  of  bird 
skill  in  housebuilding,  while  the  woodcock  often  dispenses  with 
any  structure  and  lays  its  eggs  on  the  bare  ground  (Fig.  99); 
between  these  extremes  are  all  sorts  of  intermediate  types. 
Some  terns  lay  their  eggs  among  the  beach  pebbles  which  they  so 
much  resemble  that  one  will  often  step  on  the  eggs  when  doing  his 
best  to  avoid  them  (Fig.  100).  The  young  terns  are  so  nearly 
like  the  sand  and  dry  seaweed  of  the  shore  that  they  are  almost 


BIRDS 


145 


invisible  until  they  run.     The  herring  gull  lays  its  eggs  (Fig.  101) 
in  the  hollows  of  the  bare  rocks  of  desolate  islands,  gathering  a 


FIG.  99. — Nest  of  woodcock  on  the  ground 


FIG.  100. — Young  tern  and  egg  on  rocky  shore;  note  that  mottling  of  young 
harmonizes  with  seaweed  of  background.  Egg  is  at  tip  of  tern's  bill;  similar 
objects  farther  to  left  are  pebbles. 

few  sticks  and  bits  of  moss  about  itself  as  it  sits  on  the  eggs, 
making  thus  a  very  primitive  sort  of  nest.  The  nest  of  the  brown 
thrasher  (Fig.  102)  is  a  very  loose  collection  of  sticks  laid  in  some 


146       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

convenient  tree  crotch,  where  it  usually  goes  to  pieces  soon  alter 
the  nesting  season  is  over.     Hawks,  crows,  herons  (Fig.  103),  and 


FIG.  aoi. — Nest  of  herring  gull,  just  a  few  sticks 


FIG.  102. — Nest  of  brown  thrasher 

many  other  birds  make  similar  platform  nests,  shaping  them 
more  or  less  like  a  bowl.  Most  of  the  common  birds  line  the 
nests  with  grass,  bark  fiber,  thistledown,  feathers  pulled  from 


BIRDS 


147 


FIG.  103. — Nest  of  aigrette  heron 


\ 


_J 


FIG.  104. — Nest  of  cliff  swallow  (from  water-color  sketch) 


148       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

their  own  breasts,  or  with  similar  soft  material.  The  robin 
plasters  the  outside  of  its  nest  with  mud  to  make  it  more  secure. 
The  cliff  swallow  makes  a  clay  jug  against  some  rocky  wall  and 
within  this  rears  its  young  (Fig.  104).  The  nest  of  the  chimney 
swift  is  glued  together  and  fastened  to  the  bricks  of  the  chimney 
by  a  secretion  that  the  bird  ejects  from  its  mouth.  The  Chinese 


FIG.  105. — Nest  of  *marsh  wren,  woven  of  marsh  grass 

edible  birds'  nests  are  so  completely  formed  of  a  similar  secretion 
that  they  may  be  eaten  as  a  dainty  luxury. 

Concealed  nests. — The  woodpecker's  nest  is  made  from  chips 
cut  from  the  tree  in  excavating  the  hole.  Kingfishers  dig  out  a 
long  tunnel  in  some  steep,  sandy  bank  by  the  stream  or  lake  and 
the  eggs  are  laid  on  the  earth  at  the  end  of  the  tunnel  with  little 
pretense  of  a  nest.  The  blue-gray  gnat  catcher  and  the  ruby- 


BIRDS  149 

throated  humming  bird  cover  the  outside  of  the  nest  with  lichens 
so  that  it  will  be  inconspicuous.  Some  of  the  water  birds  build 
on  floating  masses  of  plant  debris,  each  pair  inhabiting  an 
individual  island  only  large  enough  for  the  isolated  home.  The 
marsh  wren  weaves  a  globular  nest  of  grass  (Fig.  105)  with  a  side 
entrance  and  attaches  it  to  the  water  weeds  so  that  it  seems  just 
a  bunch  left  by  the  high  water.  There  is  a  philosophy  of  birds' 
eggs  also,  for  the  eggs  that  are  laid  in  these  various  nests  are 
colored  and  spotted  in  a  way  that  has  significance  in  the  survival 
of  the  species.  As  a  rule  birds  do  not  use  the  nest  a  second 
season,  so  that  nests  may  be  gathered  for  the  school  museum 
after  the  birds  have  left  them.  Each  should  be  labeled  with  the 
name  of  the  bird  that  made  it,  its  location,  and  if  possible  the 
dates  of  its  beginning  and  completion. 

The  perchers. — No  attempt  can  be  made  in  the  limited  space 
of  a  chapter  to  describe  the  common  birds,  for  in  most  localities 
there  are  probably  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  be  found  during  the 
year;  and  where  the  water  birds  are  common  there  are  even  more 
than  this.  The  student  must  be  referred  for  detailed  descrip- 
tions to  some  of  the  excellent  bird  books  already  mentioned. 
The  distinguishing  conspicuous  features  of  some  typical  orders 
and  families  may  be  mentioned  here.  The  best-known  birds  of 
fields  and  woods  are  in  large  measure  included  in  an  order  known 
as  the  perchers  (Passer  es).  Four  unwebbed  toes  spring  from  a 
common  point,  three  turning  forward  and  one  backward  to  form 
a  foot  that  is  well  adapted  for  clasping  twigs  or  other  perches. 
This  order  is  broken  up  into  a  number  of  families,  each  of  which 
includes  closely  related  birds. 

The  thrush  family. — This  includes  the  robin,  the  bluebird,  and 
a  number  of  other  thrushes.  Most  people  are  not  aware  that  the 
robin  is  the  red-breasted  thrush  (Fig.  106).  The  real  robin 
belongs  to  the  Old  World,  is  smaller  than  our  American  bird,  and 
has  a  more  varied  song.  When  our  Pilgrim  forefathers  came  to 
America  they  dubbed  this  red-breasted  thrush  the  robin,  since 
he  did  have  the  bright  breast  of  their  beloved  English  bird. 


150       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Most  of  the  thrushes  have  mottled  breasts,  similar  to  that  of  the 
young  robin,  but  not  all  birds  with  spotted  breasts  belong  in  this 
family :  the  brown  thrasher,  the  ovenbird,  and  £he  fox  sparrow, 


FIG.  106. — Robin  at  nest  feeding  young,  and  young  in  nest  (after  Finley) 

each  with  this  character,  belong  to  three  different  families.  The 
bluebird  is  more  properly  known  as  the  blue-backed  thrush. 
The  other  thrushes  will  be  known  as  "wandering  voices"  far 
away  in  the  gloom  of  the  woods  long  before  they  are  recognized 
by  sight.  This  thrush  family  includes  our  finest  bird  songsters, 


BIRDS 


FIG.  107. — The  golden- 
crowned  kinglet. 


the  hermit  and  the  wood  thrushes;  their  notes  have  the  clear 
tones  of  the  flute  with  the  softness  7of  distant  bells ;  their  songs 
are  indescribable,  quite  long,  wildly  varied — inspired  rhapsodies 
full  of  the  inexpressible  suggestions  of 
the  wilderness. 

Some  tree  protectors. —  The  kinglet 
family  includes  the  golden -crowned 
(Fig.  107)  and  ruby-crowned  kinglets. 
They  are  tiny  birds,  about  four  inches 
long,  olive  green  in  color,  with  the  under 
parts  lighter;  the  golden  crown  has  a 
streak  of  yellow  bordered  by  black  on 
the  top  of  the  head,  whereas  the  ruby- 
crowned  has  a  patch  of  ruby  red,  which, 
however,  is  conspicuous  only  when  the  animal  raises  the  feathers 
of  the  crest.  The  songs  are  warbles,  that  of  the  ruby-crowned 

being  remarkably  full  and  clear  for  so 
small  a  bird.  In  early  spring  these 
little  birds  will  be  found  carefully  going 
over  the  twigs  of  the  trees,  hunting  for 
insect  eggs  and  larvae.  If  the  woods 
are  mixed  conifers  and  deciduous  trees, 
they  are  more  likely  to  be  seen  on  the 
conifers. 

There  are  several  other  families  that 
include  small  birds  of  like  habits.  To 
the  titmouse  family  belongs  the  chicka- 
dee (Fig.  1 08),  that  animated  bunch  of 
black  and  gray  that  so  accommodatingly 
tells  you  his  name.  Another  family  is 
represented  by  the  red-breasted  and 
white-breasted  nuthatches  (Fig.  109), 

whose  acrobatic  performances  on  twigs  and  tree  trunks  are  very 
entertaining.  The  brown  creeper  (creeper  family)  (Fig.  no) 
also  searches  the  bark  crannies  for  his  food.  His  bill  is  curved, 


FIG.  108.— The  chickadee 


152        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

the  better  to  explore  hidden  crevices,  while  his  sharp  stiff  tail 
feathers  serve  as  props  against  the  bark.  All  these  birds  are 
exceedingly  valuable  allies  of  man. 

The  wood  warblers  are  a  family  peculiar  to  America  (Fig.  1 1 1). 
They  are  small  birds  with  slender  bills.  Their  ground  color  is 
predominantly  green,  but  this  is  ornamented  with  bright  orange, 
yellow,  red,  or  blue.  The  average  person  is  very  much  surprised 
to  find  that  here  in  the  northern  states  we  have  such  tropically 


FIG.  109. — Red-breasted  nuthatch 

colored  birds.  They  live  largely  in  the  tree  tops  and  are  exceed- 
ingly active,  flitting  from  branch  to  branch  or  running  over  the 
twigs  and  bark  for  the  insects  on  which  they  feed;  they  are 
undoubtedly  among  the  most  useful  of  our  birds.  Two  of  the 
family,  the  ovenbird  and  the  water  thrush,  have  quite  dissimilar 
habits  and  feed  largely  on  the  ground  or  low  shrubs. 

The  wren  family  includes  the  saucy,  voluble  house  wren,  the 
marsh  wren,  the  winter  wren.  All  are  small,  brownish  birds  with 
jauntily  turned-up  tails  which  give  them  an  impertinent  air. 


BIRDS 


153 


The  mocking-bird  family  closely  related  to  the  wrens,  is  repre- 
sented in  the  North  by  the  catbird  and  the  brown  thrasher 
(Fig.  112).  Both  of  these  birds  are  excellent  mimics,  with  a  reper- 
toire of  songs  that  includes  the  calls  of  many  of.  the  common 
birds,  together  with  some  notes 
distinctively  their  own. 

The  shrikes  or  butcher  birds 
(shrike  family)  have  hawklike 
bills  and  somewhat  hawklike 
habits.  They  hang  up  surplus 
provisions,  insects,  and  small 
rodents  on  thorns  or  even  on 
barbs  of  wire  fences.  The 
birds  of  the  swallow  family 
have  short,  flat  bills,  large 
mouths  (Fig.  113),  and  very 
long  wings,  with  correspond- 
ingly small  feet.  They  fly 
incessantly,  capturing  insects 
on  the  wing.  Tree,  bank, 
barn,  and  cliff  swallows,  and 
the  purple  martin  all  belong 
to  this  group. 

The  sparrows. — The  finch 
family  is  a  large  one,  embra- 
cing all  those  birds  with  heavy 
bills  fitted  for  crushing  seeds 
(Fig.  114);  here  belong  the  finches,  grosbeaks,  and  sparrows. 
The  best-known  sparrow  is  that  street  gamin  and  tyrant  of  the 
back  yard,  the  pesky  English  sparrow  that  drives  away  our 
valuable  native  songsters  with  his  pugnacious  aggressiveness  and 
stays  to  clutter  our  porches  and  distract  us  with  his  incessant 
cackle.  Because  he  is  so  objectionable  the  whole  sparrow  tribe 
has  a  bad  reputation  among  those  who  do  not  know  birds  inti- 
mately. This  is  quite  unjust,  for  there  are  many  charming  birds 


FIG.  no. — The  brown  creeper 


154       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

in  the  group.  The  tanager  family  is  represented  by  that  beauti- 
ful flame  of  the  forest,  the  scarlet  tanager,  a  bird  that  is  a  close 
relative  of  the  sparrows  and  finches. 


FIG.  in. — Black-throated  green  warbler 


FIG.  112. — The  brown  thrasher 


The  blackbird  family  is  also  a  numerous  one;  meadow  larks, 
bobolinks,  blackbirds,  and  grackles  are  all  included  in  it.  In  all 
these  the  base  of  the  bill  runs  up  to  the  forehead,  parting  the 


BIRDS 


155 


FIG.  113. — Head  of  barn  swallow; 
note  the  tremendous  gape  of  mouth. 


feathers  and  so  forming  a  characteristic  feature.  In  early  spring 
they  are  all  insectivorous;  the  blackbirds  feed  on  the  dragon-fly 
larvae  captured  in  the  ponds,  the  cowbirds  on  the  insects  scared 
up  by  the  feeding  cattle,  the  bobolinks  gorge  on  caterpillars,  and 
the  meadow  larks  and  grackles  on  beetles.  In  the  fall  and  winter 
grain  forms  a  conspicuous  part  of  the  diet,  and  if  other  food  is 
not  abundant  sprouting  grain 
may  suffer  in  the  spring.  The 
polygamous  cowbird  shirks  the 
responsibility  of  maternity  and 
lays  her  eggs  in  the  nests  of 
smaller  birds.  Her  rapidly 
growing  young  soon  crowd  out 
the  smaller  fledglings  and  keep 
the  little  foster-parents  busy  gathering  food  for  their  ravenous 
interlopers.  However,  in  spring,  one  can  hardly  help  welcom- 
ing the  gay  roving  bands  of  all  these  black  rascals,  when  their 
tinkling,  gurgling  notes,  though  harsh,  are  pleasant  after  the 
hushed  winter  days. 

The  crow  family  is  so  named  after  its  most  conspicuous  and 
noisiest  member,  though  the  closely  related  blue  jay  is  almost  a 
rival.  The  family  has  a  bad  reputation 
for  thievery,  and  the  nests  of  other  birds 
do  suffer  seriously  from  their  depreda- 
tions: both  eggs  and  young  form  a  reg- 
ular part  of  the  dietary  of  these  birds, 
especially  the  crow.  We  humans  have 
very  little  right  to  criticize  when 
" broilers"  form  so  constant  a  part  of 
our  diet. 

Birds  of  the  flycatcher  family  have  broad,  slightly  hooked 
bills  with  bristles  at  the  base.  The  feathers  are  gray  tinged  with 
green.  The  feeding  habits  mark  these  birds  most  readily.  From 
a  perch  on  some  lookout — a  telephone  pole,  or  the  topmost  branch 
of  a  tree — they  dart  or  swoop  upon  their  prey  and  then  return  to 
watch  for  the  next  victim. 


FIG.  114. — Head  of  the 
towhee. 


156       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


\ 


FIG.  ii  5. — Head  of 
pigeon. 


Other  orders. — In  addition  to  the  order  that  includes  the 
perching  birds,  there  are  several  other  orders  of  well-known  birds. 
One  includes  the  chimney  sweeps  and  hum- 
ming birds.  The  woodpeckers,  with  their 
sharp,  chisel-like  bills,  stiff,  pointed  tail 
feathers,  stout  feet,  and  tree-climbing 
habits,  constitute  another.  The  familiar 
hawks  and  the  less  well-known  owls  and 
vultures  belong  to  the  order  of  robbers 
(Raptor es).  They  all  have  hooked  beaks, 
strong  talons,  and  are  birds  of  prey,  feeding  largely  on  rats, 
field  mice,  snakes,  or  on  animal  refuse.  They  are  usually 

seen  in  flight  and  must  be 
recognized  on  the  wing. 
The  wing  of  both  hawk  and 
vulture  is  long  and  presents 
a  large  surface  to  the  air 
currents,  so  that  they  soar 
with  ease;  it  requires  con- 
siderable time  for  such 
birds  to  get  under  way. 
Birds  like  the  quail  or 
grouse,  with  relatively 
small  but  broad  wings,  be- 
gin their  flight  with  almost 
as  great  speed  as  they  can 
later  attain. 

Domestic  stock. — The  pigeons  and  doves  are  marked  by  a 
peculiar  soft  membrane  at  the  base  of  the  bill,  the  cere  (Fig.  115). 
Finally,  among  the  land  birds,  there  is  the  order  of  scratchers, 
represented  by  the  quail,  the  grouse,  and  the  turkey.  Their  bills 
are  stout,  as  are  also  their  feet;  the  hind  toe  is  elevated  so  that  it 
does  not  rest  upon  the  ground.  These  two  orders,  the  Columbae 
and  the  Gallinae,  include  birds  that  have  been  domesticated  by 
man;  they  embrace,  together  with  the  Anseres  (the  ducks  and 


FIG.  1 1 6. — The  spotted  sandpiper  (after 
Forbush). 


BIRDS  157 

geese) ,  the  birds  that  man  has  most  depended  on  for  food.  The 
domestic  chicken  belongs  to  the  scratchers,  although  it  is  not  a 
native  of  America. 

Water  birds. — The  foregoing  orders  are  all  land  birds;  several 
orders  of  birds  are  made  up  of  those  that  live  along  the  water- 
ways or  upon  the  water.  The  snipe  order  contains  a  lot  of  long- 
legged  wading  birds,  usually  with  slender  bills,  whose  calls  are 


FIG.  117. — The  American  bittern 

piping  whistles,  uttered  commonly  during  flight.  The  common 
snipe  and  the  sandpipers,  as  well  as  the  plovers,  with  several 
groups  of  seashore  birds,  belong  in  this  order  (Fig.  116). 

The  crane  order  is  also  made  up  of  long-legged,  long-necked 
birds,  embracing  in  the  North,  besides  the  cranes,  the  rails,  the 
gallinules,  and  the  coots.  In  flight  these  all  keep  the  neck 
extended,  a  characteristic  which  distinguishes  them  from  the 
familiar  representatives  of  the  heron  order,  which  fly  with  a  fold 


158       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


in  the  neck.     The  heron  order  includes  the   common  herons, 
bitterns  (Fig.  117),  and  the  less  well-known  storks  and  ibises. 

All  these  birds  with  stiltlike  legs  have  long  necks  of  necessity, 
else  they  could  not  reach  down  to  the  ground  for  their  food. 
Many  of  them  are  waders  (Fig.  118),  feeding  in  the  ponds  or 
streams,  and  some  have  long  beaks  for  probing  in  the  mud.  The 
rails,  gallinules,  and  coots  have  very  long  toes;  they  feed  in  the 
marshes  and  the  wide-spreading  toes  gives  them  footing  even 

where  the  ground  is  very 
soft.  The  coot's  toes  are 
partly  webbed  so  that  it 
swims  with  ease. 

The  geese  and  their  allies. — 
The  Anseres  is  the  name  of 
the  order  that  includes  the 
ducks,  geese,  and  swans. 
The  trumpeter  swan,  with  a 
length  of  sixty-five  inches,  is 
our  largest  migrant  bird,  rare 
now,  since  it  is  such  a  tempt- 
ing target  for  the  gun.  All 
of  these  birds  have  webbed 
feet  and,  with  the  exception 
of  the  merganser  ducks, 
broad  bills  with  ridges  along  the  margins  (Fig.  119);  the  mer- 
gansers have  round  bills  with  toothed  margins,  the  better  to  hold 
the  fish  on  which  they  feed. 

Gulls  and  terns  make  up  an  order  that  is  marked  by  the  long, 
pointed  wing,  adapted  to  soaring  flight,  and  by  the  hooked  bill 
and  strong  talons.  The  toes  are  webbed. 

The  grebe  order  comprises  the  loons,  grebes,  and  some  related 
sea  birds.  Their  webbed  feet  are  set  back  near  the  hind  end  of 
the  tailless  or  nearly  tailless  body.  In  this  position  they  are  of 
maximum  service  in  swimming,  but  the  bird's  movements  on  land 
are  very  awkward. 


FIG.  118. — Least  bittern  watching  for  fish 


BIRDS 


159 


FIG.  119. — Head  of  black  duck 


Structural  adaptation. — Perhaps  nowhere  else  in  the  animal 
world  do  we  find  a  better  illustration  of  the  nice  adjustment  of 
the  parts  of  an  animal  to  the  requirements  of  its  environment 
than  we  do  among  the  birds.  Take,  for  instance,  the  form  of 
the  bill.  The  duck's  bill  is  broad 
and  shovel-like,  except  among  the 
fishing  ducks,  and  the  edges  are 
corrugated,  serving  to  form  a  sieve 
when  upper  and  lower  mandibles 
are  close  together.  The  ducks  feed 
by  taking  up  mouthfuls  of  mud, 
which  they  eject  together  with  the 
water  through  this  convenient  sieve 
and  so  strain  out  the  small  animals 
and  plants  that  serve  as  food.  The 
hawks  have  strong  bills,  the  upper 
mandible  of  which  is  curved  like  a  hook  and  serves  to  capture 
and  tear  up  the  prey  (Fig.  120).  The  woodpecker  has  a  narrow,, 
chisel-like  bill  that  is  an  effective  tool  in  cutting  out  his  nest  hole 
as  well  as  in  excavating  the  tree  trunk  for  grubs.  When  the 
bird  has  partly  cut  its  way  to  some  wood-boring  larva,  the 

tongue  is  thrust  down  the  bur- 
row of  the  grub  and  the  victim 
pulled  from  the  hole.  For  this 
service  the  tongue  of  the  wood- 
pecker is  long  and  slender  and 
barbed,  much  like  a  fishhook 
(Fig.  1 2 1) .  Grosbeaks  and  spar- 
rows, which  usually  live  on  seeds, 
have  heavy  beaks  for  crushing 
the  hard  seed  coats.  The  woodcock  has  a  long,  slender  bill  for 
probing  into  the  soft  mud,  where  it  finds  its  food  (Fig.  122). 
His  eyes  are  located  well  back  on  the  head,  where  they  are  out 
of  the  way  when  the  bill  is  thrust  way  down  to  the  snout.  The 
tip  of  the  bill  is  movable  and  sensitive  so  that  it  may  circle 


FIG.  1 20. — Head  of  sparrow  hawk 


160       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


FIG.  121. — Head  and  tongue 
of  downy  woodpecker. 


about  like  a  finger,  feeling  for  the  imbedded  animals.  These 
common  types  are  but  a  few  of  those  that  will  be  found  in  any 
extensive  collection  of  birds. 

Birds'  feet. — No  less  remarkable  are  the  feet  of  birds.     The 
grebes  have  toes  that  are  webbed  individually.     The  duck's  toes 

have  a  common  web  that  unites  them 
and  makes  the  feet  very  effective 
paddles.  Most  woodpeckers  have  two 
toes  pointing  forward  and  two  back- 
ward, for  the  weight  must  be  sustained 
on  the  bark  of  the  trees  and  such  an 
arrangement  gives  them  a  more  pow- 
erful grip.  The  hawks,  eagles,  and 
owls  have  strong,  clawed  toes  or  talons 
for  firmly  holding  their  prey.  Such  a 
bird  as  the  Florida  gallinule  has  a 
relatively  large  foot  (Fig.  123),  since  it  lives  in  the  marshes 
where  it  needs  wide  expanse  of  foot  to  keep  it  from  sinking  into 
the  soft  mud  just  as  a  man  wears  snow  shoes  to  keep  from  going 
deep  into  the  snow  at  every  step.  In  the  ostrich  the  foot 
has  become  calloused,  like  the  hoof  of  a  horse,  so  that  it  may 
run  with  ease  over  the  hard 
ground. 

The  wing  of  the  bird. — 
Examine  carefully  a  bird's 
wing,  like  that  of  a  duck  or 
chicken.  Notice  its  several 
joints  and  compare  them 
with  your  own  arm.  The  wing  is  covered  with  several  types 
of  feathers;  the  very  long  primaries,  the  shorter  secondaries,  and 
still  shorter  feathers.  Examine  a  primary  feather  (Fig.  124); 
notice  its  central  shaft  ending  in  the  quill.  On  either  side  of 
the  shaft  there  is  a  web  of  material  made  up  of  barbs  fastened 
together  by  interlocked  hooks.  Notice  how  light  and  yet  how 
strong  this  web  is.  Observe,  too,  that  the  shaft  is  not  at  the 


FIG.  122. — Head  of  woodcock 


BIRDS 


161 


very  center  of  the  vane,  but  is  much  nearer  one  margin  than 
the  other. 

As  you  watch  the  bird  taking  flight  the  process  seems  a  very 
simple  one.  The  expanded  wings  beat  down  on  the  air,  resume 
their  initial  position,  and  again  strike  the  air,  and  so  the  bird  is 
lifted  off  the  ground.  On 
second  thought  one  won- 
ders why  the  upward  move- 
ment of  the  wing  does  not 
counterbalance  the  down- 
stroke.  It  is  true  the 
downstroke  is  rapid  and 
forceful,  but  the  upstroke  is  of  longer  duration  if  not  quite  so 
vigorous.  If  the  wing  is  examined  carefully,  the  matter  is  ex- 
plained by  the  difference  in  form  of  the  upper  and  the  under 
sides  of  the  wing,  and  also  by  the  arrangement  of  the  feathers, 
which  permits  the  air  to  go  through  the  wing  on  the  upstroke 
but  not  on  the  downstroke.  Find  out  from  the  wing  itself  how 
this  is  accomplished, 

The  body  feathers. — The  body  of  the  bird  is  covered  with  soft 
feathers  quite  unlike  the  stiff  wing  feathers  used  in  flight.     These 


FIG.  123. — Foot  of  Florida  gallinule 


FIG.  124. — Primary  feather  from  wing  of  herring  gull 

body  feathers  are  not  distributed  evenly,  but  grow  only  on  certain 
parts,  leaving  large  portions  of  the  skin  without  feathers,  as  can 
be  easily  seen  when  a  chicken  is  plucked;  nevertheless  the 
feathers  overlap  these  bare  areas  so  that  the  bird  is  kept  warm 
and  dry.  That  the  bird's  coat  of  feathers  is  effective  in  keeping 
it  warm  is  evident  when  such  tiny  birds  as  the  chickadee  can 
endure  the  rigors  of  a  Canadian  winter.  Man  has  always  been 


1 62        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

appreciative  of  the  birds'  soft  coats,  and  many  thousands  of 
swans'  skins  besides  tons  of  down  have  gone  into  winter  gar- 
ments; indeed,  such  birds  as  the  eider  duck  and  the  trumpeter 
swan  have  largely  disappeared  because  their  feathers  were  so 
highly  prized.  Unfortunately,  too,  many  of  the  birds  possess 
feathers,  such  as  the  aigrettes,  that  are  much  desired  as  ornaments 
for  hats  or  gowns  that  it  has  led  to  the  merciless  slaughter  of  their 
possessors.  The  trade  in  and  use  of  such  vestiges  of  savagery  is 
wisely  restricted  by  law  and  will  disappear  entirely  when  the 
public  has  fully  learned  how  valuable  the  birds  really  are. 

One  wonders  how  a  duck  can  sit  for  hours  on  the  water  and 
not  get  wet.  At  the  base  of  the  tail  is  an  oil  gland,  the  opening 
of  which  is  on  a  projecting  papilla  readily  seen  on  a  plucked 
chicken;  the  bird  sticks  its  bill  down  to  this  opening  and  smears 
it  with  oil  which  it  then  rubs  on  its  feathers.  The  process  is 
called  preening.  After  thus  waterproofing  their  thick  coats  birds 
may  stay  out  in  the  rain  to  feed  and  still  keep  dry,  or  they  may 
swim  in  the  water  and  not  get  wet. 

Bird  thieves. — Certain  birds  have  odious  reputations;  the 
crows  and  blackbirds  are  accused  of  eating  much  corn,  and  even 
bob  white  is  suspected  of  taking  large  toll  of  the  sprouting  grain; 
the  redwing  and  bobolink  are  said  to  pilfer  the  southern  rice  fields; 
the  kingbird  is  thought  to  feed  on  honey  bees ;  and  all  hawks  and 
owls  are  held  in  enmity  by  the  farmer  as  robbers  of  the  chicken 
yard.  But  government  experts,  examining  the  stomachs  of  birds 
at  all  seasons,  have  found  no  sprouted  grain  in  bob  white's  diet; 
they  do  find  grain  which  has  been  gleaned  among  the  stubble. 
The  crow  does  pull  and  eat  sprouting  grain  and  does  feed 
regularly  on  birds'  eggs  and  nestlings,  but  likely  even  he  more 
than  compensates  by  the  injurious  insects  he  eats  (Fig.  125). 
The  blue  jay  eats  corn,  too,  but  not  from  early  May  until  after 
harvest  time;  out  of  two  hundred  and  ninety- two  blue  jays' 
stomachs  examined  only  five  showed  traces  of  young  birds  or 
eggs.  The  blackbirds,  as  a  rule,  eat  grain  only  in  the  late  fall, 
unless  they  multiply  so  greatly  as  to  find  their  usual  sources  of 


BIRDS 


Crow,  one  week  old 


Adult  Crow 


Song  Sparrow 


Chipping  Sparrow 


Red-tailed  Hawk 


Adult  Bank  Swallow 

Food  entirely  insects,  as  is 
also  that  of  the  nestling 


FIG.  125. — Food  chart,  showing  proportions  of  foods  in  diet  of  some  common, 
birds. 


1 64       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

food  inadequate.  The  kingbird,  or  bee  martin,  does  eat  bees, 
but  they  are  almost  entirely  the  useless  drones.  The  bobolink 
is  really  a  serious  menace  to  the  rice  fields  of  the  South,  for," 
together  with  the  redwing,  they  cause  an  annual  loss  estimated 
at  about  two  million  dollars.  One  grower  reports  using  a 
hundred  kegs  of  powder  and  from  thirty  to  fifty  kegs  of  shot  each 
September  in  an  attempt  to  protect  his  fields;  even  then,  he 
thinks,  the  birds  destroy  one-fourth  to  one-third  of  the  crop  in 
his  region  (Beal,  Food  of  Bobolinks,  Blackbirds,  and  Crackles). 

Cooper's  hawk  and  the  sharp-shinned  hawk  do  eat  chickens 
and  the  great  horned  owl  will  occasionally  steal  poultry;  the 
pigeon  hawk  and  sometimes  the  barred  owl  feed  on  small  birds.' 
But  with  these  exceptions  the  hawks  and  owls  are  very  beneficial; 
from  the  twenty-seven  hundred  stomachs  collected  in  all  parts 
of  the  country,  the  government  experts  found  that  four-fifths 
of  their  food  was  made  up  of  injurious  mice  and  other  rodents, 
insects,  and  frogs.  The  chicken  thief  should  be  shot  when 
caught  in  the  act,  but  to  shoot  all  hawks  and  owls  on  sight  is  to 
kill  off  some  of  the  most  valuable  of  the  farmers'  aids. 

Ravages  of  insects.— Professor  D.  B.  Walsh,  then  editor  of 
the  American  Entomologist,  estimated,  in  1868,  that  the  country 
suffered  a  loss  of  three  hundred  million  dollars  each  year  from  the 
depredations  of  insects;  this  loss  was  considerably  over  10  per 
cent  of  the  value  of  the  agricultural  products  at  that  time.  In 
the  report  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  1884  the  losses 
are  estimated  at  from  three  hundred  to  four  hundred  million 
dollars  annually.  C.  B.  Riley,  the  expert  entomologist  of  the 
government,  estimated  the.  loss  at  about  one-tenth  of  the  entire 
agricultural  crop,  and  Dr.  Fletcher,  president  of  the  Society  of 
Economic  Entomologists,  confirmed  this  estimate  a  year  later. 
The  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  in  1904  stated  the 
loss  as  $795,100,000.  All  these  figures  indicate  that  it  is  con- 
servative to  estimate  the  loss  due  to  insects  at  one- tenth  of  our 
agricultural  production.  Our  farm  crops  last  year  ran  something 
over  thirteen  billion  dollars,  which  would  mean  that  over  a 


BIRDS  165 

billion  dollars'  worth  of  produce  disappeared  down  the  throats  of 
voracious  insects — a  tidy  sum  that  we  might  well  afford  to  save 
if  possible. 

Dr.  C.  R.  Marlatt,  of  the  Bureau  of  Entomology  of  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  estimated  that  the  loss  on  the 
wheat  crop  of  1904,  due  to  a  single  insect,  the  Hessian  fly,  was 
about  one  hundred  million  dollars.  Equally  great  losses  are 
suffered  annually,  according  to  Dr.  Shymer  and  Dr.  Riley,  by 
the  ravages  of  the  chinch  bug,  which  largely  injures  wheat  and 
corn.  It  was  estimated  that  the  Rocky  Mountain  locust,  in  the 
years  of  its  greatest  abundance  (1874-77),  took  a  toll  of  two 
hundred  million  dollars  from  the  great  corn-raising  states  just 
west  of  the  Mississippi. 

Rate  of  insect  multiplication. — The  rate  of  insect  propagation 
is  almost  inconceivable.  Townsend  Glover,  United  States 
entomologist,  estimated  that  a  pair  of  Colorado  potato  beetles, 
if  allowed  to  go  on  without  molestation,  would  give  rise  in  one 
season  to  over  sixty  million  progeny.  C.  F.  Hodge  estimates 
that  one  female  fly,  starting  to  breed  in  May,  will  give  rise  to 
143,875  bushels  of  flies  by  the  first  of  August  if  uninterrupted. 
Probably  the  insect  with  greatest  reproductive  capacity  is  the 
little  plant  louse  or  aphid.  United  States  Entomologist  Riley, 
in  his  study  of  the  aphid  that  attacks  the  hop,  finds  that  there 
are  thirteen  generations  in  one  season.  Allowing  a  hundred 
young  to  a  female,  and  this  is  a  very  conservative  allowance,  the 
twelfth  generation  from  the  first  female  would  contain  ten 
sextillions  of  aphids,  provided,  of  course,  that  none  of  the  progeny 
had  died  before  reproducing.  If  these  were  placed  ten  to  an 
inch  the  line  would  reach  out  beyond  the  farthest  star  visible  to  a 
powerful  telescope,  reaching  a  point  from  which  it  would  take 
light  twenty-five  hundred  years  to  come  back  to  the  earth, 
traveling  at  the  rate  of  186,000  miles  per  second. 

Birds  our  defenders. — From  such  almost  limitless  rates  of 
reproduction  and  the  consequent  plagues  of  insect  pests  the 
birds  are  our  chief  deliverers.  Mr.  Mosher,  a  careful  observer 


166       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

in  the  Middlesex  Falls  Reservation  of  Massachusetts,  watched, 
with  a  good  field  glass,  a  pair  of  northern  yellowthroats,  warblers, 
eating  plant  lice  on  the  birches.  One  of  them  swallowed  89 
aphids  in  a  minute  and  continued  eating  for  forty  minutes 
without  stopping,  which  would  mean  that  something  over  7,000 
plant  lice  had  disappeared  in  that  time.  A  scarlet  tanager  made 
away  with  630  gypsy-moth  caterpillars  in  eighteen  minutes.  A 
nighthawk's  stomach  contained  over  500  mosquitoes.  Forbush 
reports  finding  1,028  eggs  of  the  fall  cankerworm  in  the  crops  of 
four  chickadees  in  Massachusetts  and  later  found  four  of  the  same 
kind  of  birds  that  had  eaten  an  average  of  21  female  cankerworm 
moths,  each  containing  185  eggs.  Sanderson  estimated  that 
chickadees  alone  annually  eat  8,000,000,000  insects  in  Michigan. 
Bruner  (Special  Bulletin  No.  5,  University  of  Nebraska)  estimates 
that  it  takes  15,625  bushels  of  insects,  daily,  to  feed  the  birds  of 
that  state.  Reed  estimates  that  the  birds  of  Massachusetts 
destroy  21,000  bushels,  or  170  carloads,  daily,  from  May  to 
September. 

Young  birds  heavy  feeders. — Even  those  birds  that  feed 
mostly  on  seeds  feed  their  young  largely  on  insects  and  other 
animal  food;  and  the  young  require  enormous  quantities,  for 
young  birds  grow  very  rapidly.  Mr.  Owen,  watching  a  nest  of 
song  sparrows,  found  that  five  young  increased,  on  an  average, 
48  per  cent  in  a  single  day.  Weed  and  Dearborn  found  that 
young  robins  eat  daily  about  half  of  their  own  weight  of  food,  and 
one  case  is  on  record  in  which  the  young  bird  ate  nearly  twice  its 
weight  of  earthworms  and  cutworms.  Crows  have  also  been 
found  to  eat  about  half  their  weight  of  food  each  day  while 
growing. 

The  adult  birds  are  therefore  kept  busy  all  day  long  bringing 
insect  food  to  the  fledglings.  Dr.  Judd,  in  Bulletin  No.  17, 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Division  of  Biological 
Survey,  says  that  a  nest  of  young  wrens  about  three-fourths 
grown  was  visited  by  the  parents  a  hundred  and  ten  times  in 
four  hours  and  thirty-seven  minutes  and  was  fed  during  this  time 


BIRDS  167 

a  hundred  and  eleven  spiders  and  insects.  A  pair  of  rose- 
breasted  grosbeaks  was  watched  by  Mr.  Mosher  in  June,  1899. 
The  young  were  visited  four  hundred  and  twenty-six  times  in 
eleven  hours,  and  on  no  trip  did  the  parent  bird  bring  less  than 
two  insects  or  caterpillars.  The  feeding  of  a  nest  of  grackles  was 
reported  in  the  Nature  Study  Review  for  April,  1915.  There  were 
four  young  birds  in  the  nest  to  which  the  parents  made  sixty-one 
trips  during  twelve  hours  and  each  time  fed  an  insect  of 
good  size,  mostly  June  beetles  and  white  grubs.  In  the  same 
journal  (September,  1912)  data  are  given  regarding  a  nest  of 
fledgling  song  sparrows  which  were  under  observation  for  a  day. 
They  were  fed  by  the  parents  on  noxious  insects  and  their  larvae 
at  intervals,  on  the  average,  of  three  minutes,  from  4 : 05  A.M.  to 
7 : 23  P.M.,  during  which  time  they  gained  10  per  cent  in  weight. 
Mr.  Charles  reported,  as  the  result  of  watching  a  robin's  nest 
for  five  days,  that  the  parents  fed  the  young  a  daily  average  of 
three  hundred  and  fifty-six  pieces  of  food,  mostly  insects  and 
their  larvae  (Nature  Study  Review,  May,  1910). 

Birds  eat  weed  seeds. — The  farmers'  crops  are  endangered  not 
only  by  insects  but  also  by  the  weeds  that  sap  much  of  the 
vitality  that  should  go  to  the  growing  crops.  A  great  deal  of 
the  farmer's  time  is  required  to  keep  weeds  in  subjugation,  and 
the  birds  are  his  most  important  allies;  for  the  seed-eating 
birds,  notably  the  sparrows  and  their  kin,  consume  enormous 
quantities  of  weed  seed. 

F.  E.  Beale  made  a  careful  survey  of  the  weed-destroying 
powers  of  the  tree  sparrow  in  the  state  of  Iowa.  He  first  walked 
over  sample  areas  in  various  parts  of  the  state  to  determine  the 
number  of  birds  per  acre.  He  shot  enough  of  the  birds  to 
obtain  a  safe  average  of  the  weight  of  seed  contained  in  a  bird's 
crop.  Knowing  the  area  of  the  state  in  acres,  and  having  found 
the  average  number  of  tree  sparrows  per  acre,  he  estimated  the 
tree  sparrow  population  of  the  state.  He  knew  also  the  weight 
of  weed  seed  eaten  daily  by  the  sparrow.  Knowing  the  time 
when  they  usually  arrive  in  the  state  in  the  fall  and  when  they 


1 68       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

migrate  north  in  the  spring,  Mr.  Beale  finally  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  during  their  winter  sojourn  this  single  species  of  bird 
ate  about  875  tons  of  weed  seed. 

Judd  tells  us  in  his  bulletin  on  Birds  as  Weed  Destroyers  that 
he  found  7,500  seeds  of  oxalis  in  the  crop  of  one  mourning  dove. 
He  further  tells  of  examining  a  patch  of  smartweed  on  a  Maryland 
farm  where  the  sparrows  had  been  feeding.  On  eighteen  square 
inches  of  ground  he  picked  up  1,130  half -seeds  from  which  the 
birds  had  taken  the  meat,  and  only  2  entire  seeds.  More  than 
100  pigweed  seeds  were  found  in  the  stomach  of  a  snow  bunting. 
A  bob  white  was  found  to  have  eaten  over  5,000  seeds  of  pigeon 
grass ;  another  had  eaten  i  ,000  fruits  of  ragweed ;  yet  another  had 
in  his  crop  over  10,000  seeds  of  the  pigweed,  one  of  the  worst 
farm  pests.  It  is  estimated  that  bobwhite  destroys  annually 
573  tons  of  weed  seed  in  Virginia  alone  besides  tons  of  noxious 
insects. 

Bird  migration. — One  of  the  most  interesting  and  instructive 
phenomena  of  bird  life  is  the  annual  migration.  That  the  few 
birds  living  about  us  in  the  winter  time  are  largely  replaced  with 
different  sorts  that  come  in  from  the  south  as  spring  approaches 
is  a  fact  with  which  everyone  is  more  or  less  familiar.  We  all 
watch  with  delightful  anticipation  for  the  appearance  of  the 
first  robin  or  the  bubbling  song  of  the  bobolink.  The  migration 
of  the  birds  has  long  been  noted.  Jeremiah  wrote :  "The  stork 
in  the  heaven  knoweth  her  appointed  times :  and  the  turtle  and 
the  crane  and  the  swallow  observe  the  time  of  their  coming." 
The  earliest  naturalists  knew  that  the  birds  fly  away  in  the  fall 
and  reappear  in  the  spring,  but  they  thought  that  they  flew  off 
to  the  moon  or  buried  themselves  in  the  mud,  as  the  frogs  do,  for 
their  winter  hibernation.  And  with  all  the  study  that  has  been 
put  upon  it  recently  we  do  not  yet  know  where  some  of  the  birds, 
such  as  the  common  chimney  swift,  the  bank,  and  the  cliff 
swallow,  spend  the  winter. 

Four  groups. — We  may  group  the  birds  into  four  classes  on 
the  basis  of  migration  characteristics:  (i)  Those  species  that 


BIRDS  169 

stay  with  us  the  year  around.  Probably,  however,  the  individ- 
uals of  the  species  that  are  with  us  during  the  winter  are  not 
those  that  are  present  in  the  summer.  For  instance,  in  many 
cases  the  blue  jays  that  are  feeding  in  our  neighborhood  during 
the  winter  move  north  to  nest  while  other  blue  jays  from  the 
south  come  to  our  region  to  nest.  (2)  There  are  the  winter 
visitors,  those  that  nest  considerably  farther  north  but  come  as 
far  south  as  our  latitude  to  feed  during  the  winter.  (3)  There 
are  the  summer  residents,  the  birds  that  nest  here  but  go  farther 
south  to  spend  the  winter.  (4)  The  migrants,  birds  that  nest 
to  the  north  of  us  and  merely  pass  by  as  they  go  south  in  the  fall 
and  back  north  in  the  spring. 

Number  migrating. — The  recently  completed  survey  of  the 
bird  population  made  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture  gives 
the  average -number  of  birds  in  the  farming  regions  of  the  United 
States  as  one  pair  per  acre;  a  similar  survey  of  Illinois  makes  the 
average  two  per  acre.  While  this  does  not  seem  at  all  a  dense 
population,  yet  it  foots  up  a  tremendously  large  number  of  birds 
and  is  considerably  more  dense  than  the  human  population. 
Langley  estimates  that  if  the  bird  army  that  goes  north  in  the 
spring  were  composed  of  individuals  as  large  as  a  sparrow,  and  if 
these  should  stand  in  single  line,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  the  line 
would  reach  around  the  earth  a  hundred  and  sixty-five  times. 
Cook  relates  that  the  Lapland  longspurs  met,  in  their  northern 
migration,  a  very  severe  storm  of  soft  snow  which  killed  numbers 
of  them.  He  estimated  that  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
of  them  were  scattered,  dead,  over  the  surfaces  of  two  small  lakes, 
neither  more  than  a  mile  in  area.  In  New  Jersey,  Chapman, 
using  a  six-and-a-half -inch  telescope,  saw  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
two  birds  cross  the  face  of  the  moon  one  night  in  September. 
Realizing  how  small  a  portion  of  the  sky  is  occupied  by  the  moon, 
one  gets  some  notion  of  the  large  number  of  birds  that  must  have 
been  flying,  if  the  rest  of  the  heavens  were  as  well  occupied  by 
migrant  birds  as  the  region  immediately  in  line  with  the  moon. 
Cook  records  an  observation  made  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Huron 


170       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

when  migrant  birds  were  caught  by  a  severe  storm  on  the  night 
of  October  10,  1906;  the  next  morning  dead  birds,  averaging 
five  thousand  to  the  mile,  were  strewn  along  the  shore  for  many 
miles. 

Extent  and  rate  of  migration. — The  distance  covered  in  migra- 
tion varies  greatly  with  different  species.  Some  birds,  such  as 
the  pine  warbler  and  the  robin,  simply  move  into  the  southern 
part  of  their  nesting  areas,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  some  of  the 
birds  that  nest  well  within  the  arctic  circle  fly  down  to  the 
southern  portion  of  South  America  for  the  winter,  approximately 
a  fourth  of  the  way  around  the  world  (Fig.  126).  The  pintail 
and  the  shoveler  ducks,  nesting  in  the  islands  of  the  Behring  Sea, 
spend  the  winter  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  about  twenty-two 
hundred  miles  farther  south.  Our  familiar  bobolink  winters  in 
the  center  of  South  America.  The  kingbird,  that  nests  as  far 
north  as  British  Columbia,  goes  as  far  south  as  Bolivia  for  the 
winter.  Even  such  tiny  birds  as  the  warblers  make  long  flights; 
the  Canadian  (Fig.  127)  and  yellow  warblers,  neither  much  over 
five  inches  in  length,  nest  well  to  the  north,  the  latter  even 
reaching  the  shores  of  Hudson  Bay,  yet  they  winter  in  the  tropics, 
migrating  from  three  to  seven  thousand  miles  each  fall  and 
spring.  The  birds  have  rightly  been  called  our  greatest  travelers, 
for  no  other  species  of  animal  migrates  as  extensively  or  as 
regularly. 

The  rate  of  migration  is  not  very  rapid.  Care  must  be  taken 
to  distinguish  between  the  rate  of  migration  and  the  rate  of 
flight:  the  passenger  pigeon  makes  from  thirty  to  fifty-five  miles 
an  hour,  but  on  long  flights  seventy-five  miles  a  day  is  a  good  rate. 
Some  of  the  birds  are  said  to  produce  bursts  of  speed  up  to  two 
hundred  miles  an  hour,  but  the  data  collected  by  the  Department 
of  Agriculture  give  the  record  of  the  migration  of  nearly  sixty 
species  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  the  average  rate  per  day 
is  twenty- three  miles:  the  robin  and  the  cowbird  made  twelve 
miles  a  day,  the  ruby-throated  humming  bird  twenty-eight 
miles.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  as  the  nesting  grounds  are 


BIRDS 


171 


approached  the  rate  increases;  thus  the  blackpoll  warbler 
averaged  thirty  miles  per  day  from  New  Orleans  to  southern 
Minnesota,  then  finished  the  flight  to  the  nesting  site  at  the  rate 
of  two  hundred  miles  a  day,  a  sprint  on  the  home  stretch. 


FIG.  126. — Migration  route  of  the  golden  plover:  small  circles  show  nesting 
region,  dotted  area  the  winter  home.  The  journey  south  and  the,  return  are  by 
different  routes. 


172       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Routes  of  migration. — While  the  route  of  migration  sometimes 
follows  conspicuous  physiographic  features,  such  as  the  coast 


FIG.  127. — Migration  route  of  the  mourning  warbler:    small  circles  show 
nesting  region,  dotted  area  the  winter  home,  connecting  lines  the  migration  route. 

lines,  river  valleys,  and  mountain  ranges,  it  often  disregards  them 
entirely.     As  the  birds  are  usually  flying  a  mile  or  two  above  the 


BIRDS  173 

earth  they  get  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  country  and  can  follow 
conspicuous  landmarks  with  ease.  That  they  have,  however, 
besides  sight  some  other  means  of  guidance  in  their  migration  is 
evident  from  the  feat  of  the  pintail  and  shoveler  ducks  already 
mentioned.  From  the  time  these  animals  leave  the  Aleutian 
Islands  until  they  arrive  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands  they  have  no 
landmarks  to  guide  them,  but  they  fly  straight  over  the  two 
thousand  miles  of  open  ocean  without  stop. 

The  golden  plover  accomplishes  another  long  flight.  It  nests 
north  of  the  arctic  circle  during  June  and  July.  In  August  it 
moves  to  Labrador,  there  feeding  and  fattening  on  what  are 
known  as  crowberries.  By  early  September  it  has  moved  on  to 
southern  Nova  Scotia,  and  then  without  stop  it  wings  its  way 
straight  across  the  Atlantic  to  the  coast  of  South  America, 
arriving  in  southern  Brazil  and  the  Za  Plata  plains  by  mid- 
September.  The  return  route  is  an  inland  one.  Flying  across 
the  forests  of  the  Amazon  Valley  it  appears  in  Central  America 
in  March;  thence  by  way  of  Texas  and  the  Mississippi  Valley 
and  across  Canada  it  reaches  the  nesting  grounds  (Fig.  126). 

Our  common  bobolink  flocks  in  the  fall,  and  then  all  these 
flocks  migrate  to  the  coastal  plains  of  the  Carolinas,  where  they 
feed  on  the  rice  (Fig.  128).  Formerly  they  fed  on  the  wild  rice, 
but  now  they  seem  to  prefer  the  cultivated  variety.  Later  they 
move  on  to  Florida,  Cuba,  Jamaica,  and  so  to  the  valley  of  the 
Amazon,  where  they  spend  the  winter.  A  part  of  the  horde, 
however,  take  the  more  customary  route  of  North  American 
birds,  flying  from  the  Gulf  Coast  near  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi 
across  to  Yucatan  and  down  through  the  Isthmus.  In  addition 
to  these  routes  taken  by  the  bobolinks,  two  others  at  least  are 
followed  by  many  birds:  one,  along  the  western  coast  of  the  Gulf 
and  so  through  Central  America  (Fig.  127);  the  other,  by  way 
of  Florida  and  the  Greater  and  Lesser  Antilles. 

It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  explain  these  varied  and  indirect 
routes.  The  European  quails  cross  the  Mediterranean  at  its 
widest  part  and  are  so  exhausted  when  they  alight  in  Italy  that 


174       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

the  peasants  pick  them  up  with  ease  and  then  fatten  them  for 
food.  The  route  which  they  follow,  while  over  the  widest  stretch 
of  sea,  is  also  over  the  shallowest  part  of  the  Mediterranean,  a 


FIG.  128. — Migration  routes  of  the  bobolink:  smill  circles  show  nesting  region, 
dotted  area  the  winter  home.  The  birds  go  south  and  return  by  the  same  general 
routes. 


BIRDS  175 

region  that  in  all  probability  has  been  above  the  ocean  in 
relatively  recent  geological  time. 

Time  of  migration. — The  different  species  of  birds  migrate  at 
quite  different  times;  some  come  early,  and  their  young  are 
matured  before  others  arrive  and  begin  their  nesting.  Some  of 
the  birds  depart  for  the  south  in  August,  while  others  linger  until 
apparently  driven  out  by  the  inclement  winter  weather.  Ordi- 
narily the  arrival  of  the  birds  is  delayed  by  bad  weather  and 
hastened  by  especially  warm  weather,  though  on  the  whole  they 
strike  an  average  date  and  often  come  even  though  the  weather 
at  the  time  seems  particularly  unpropitious.  Thus  George  M. 
Neese,  of  Newmarket,  Virginia,  gives  the  dates  for  the  arrival 
of  the  chimney  swifts  from  1884  to  1906,  and  the  extreme  dates 
during  this  time  were  April  7  and  April  21,  but  during  twelve  of 
these  years  the  arrival  was  either  on  April  14,  15,  or  16. 

Night  travel  customary. — The  migration  is  by  night  except 
with  those  birds  that  are  perpetually  on  the  wing  and  are  there- 
fore strong  fliers,  or  else  with  birds  that  are  so  pugnacious  as  to 
be  abundantly  able  to  take  care  of  themselves  even  when  exposed 
to  the  dangers  of  daylight  travel.  Warm,  clear  nights  are 
selected  for  the  flights.  A  season  of  cloudy  weather  with  stiff 
north  winds  will  hold  back  the  wave  of  migration  so  that  the 
woods  and  fields  will  be  full  of  recent  arrivals;  then  when  there 
comes  a  clear  warm  night  the  whole  bird  population  will  depart, 
leaving  the  woods  deserted.  I  have  stood  in  the  evergreen  woods 
of  northern  Michigan  early  on  a  Warm  morning  in  May  and  have 
seen  wave  after  wave  of  migrants  arrive.  The  woods  would 
be  alive  with  half  a  dozen  different  kinds  of  warblers;  then  all 
would  fly  on  and  quiet  would  reign  supreme,  until  in  the  distance 
the  notes  of  another  on-coming  flock  would  be  heard;  soon  the 
woods  would  be  swarming  again  with  hosts  of  these  little  bril- 
liantly colored  feathered  travelers. 

Causes  of  migration. — The  causes  of  migration  are  by  no 
means  clear.  It  is  not  caused  by  cold  weather,  for  many  of  the 
birds  start  south  in  August  when  we  are  having  our  hottest  days. 


176        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

It  is  not  caused  by  lack  of  food,  for  in  the  spring  especially  the 
birds  leave  a  land  of  plenty  and  move  where  insect  life,  at  least, 
is  relatively  scarce.  Not  infrequently  the  entire  species  gathers 
in  a  single  spot:  the  Ipswich  sparrow  nests,  so  far  as  is  known, 
only  on  one  island  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  and 
the  pelicans  congregate  along  the  Brown  River  in  Florida. 

The  two  chief  theories  concerning  bird  migration  are:  First, 
that  the  birds  lived  originally  in  tropical  regions  and  moved  out 
from  this  territory  at  nesting  time,  as  they  increased  in  numbers, 
because  food  for  the  young  and  room  were  both  at  a  premium. 
The  second  theory  supposes  that  the  birds  were  at  one  time 
widely  distributed  over  nearly  all  the  world.  The  on-coming  of 
the  more  rigorous  winters  as  the  glacial  period  approached  may 
have  forced  the  birds  south  during  the  winter,  while  the  warmer 
springs  permitted  them  to  go  back  again  to  nest  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  their  original  homes.  A  third  theory  has  recently 
been  suggested,  that  migration  is  a  phenomenon  accompanying 
changing  light  conditions,  the  birds  moving  into  the  regions  that 
have  the  largest  amount  of  daylight. 

A  schoolroom  device. — An  interesting  schoolroom  device  for 
the  study  of  migration,  one  that  also  brings  into  play  the  study 
of  geography  and  English,  is  as  follows :  Along  in  January  ask  the 
children  to  write  to  friends  or  relatives  throughout  the  Eastern 
United  States  and  Canada  asking  them  to  be  on  the  watch 
for  some  well-known  bird  like  the  robin  and  to  report  the  date 
of  its  arrival.  The  letter  may  state  that  the  class  is  studying 
the  migration  of  the  birds,  and  that  these  reports  are  all  going  to 
be  put  on  the  blackboard  in  the  schoolroom.  On  the  board  at 
some  place  that  is  not  much  used,  or  else  on  a  large  sheet  of 
paper,  say  four  feet  square,  have  drawn  a  map  of  Eastern  North 
America.  Reports  from  points  in  the  South  will  come  in  saying 
that  the  robin  (if  that  is  the  bird  selected)  regularly  stays  all 
winter.  In  this  way  pupils  will  be  able  to  map  that  part  of  the 
United  States  in  which  the  robin  is  a  winter  resident.  Mark  all 
such  places  with  red  dots.  As  the  northward  migration  proceeds 


BIRDS  177 

the  reports  will  begin  to  arrive  from  the  children's  friends.  Thus 
Mary  comes  to  school  with  a  letter  that  she  has  received  from 
her  cousin  in  Maryland  reporting  that  the  first  robin  was  seen 
there  on  February  26 ;  John  comes  to  school  a  few  days  later  with 
a  letter  from  his  brother  in  southern  Wisconsin  saying  that  the 
robin  was  seen  there  March  9.  Have  the  children  locate  on  the 
map  the  town  from  which  each  report  is  received  and  also  register 
the  date  of  the  arrival  of  the  bird  at  that  point.  The  continued 
approach  of  the  wave  of  migrating  robins  will  heighten  the 
anticipation  of  the  children  as  they  await  their  appearance. 
After  the  birds  have  been  reported  in  the  home  town,  reports 
will  still  come  in  from  the  friends  farther  north  and  it  may  be 
possible  to  determine  the  northern  limit  of  the  robin's  migration. 

Values  of  bird-study. — It  is  evident  that  bird-study  has  large 
educational  value.  It  is  excellent  sensory  drill;  form,  color, 
and  markings  are  all  varied,  and  to  distinguish  them  requires 
nice  discrimination.  No  other  field  of  outdoor  study  offers  such 
good  training  of  the  ear  as  the  study  of  bird  music;  to  learn  to 
recognize  the  birds  by  their  calls  and  songs  makes  the  hearing 
keen,  and  to  learn  to  reproduce  them  requires  much  patience  and 
develops  a  memory  for  sounds.  It  is  a  source  of  much  pleasure 
to  be  able  to  call  the  birds ;  many,  like  the  cardinal  and  chickadee, 
will  come  long  distances  in  answer  to  their  whistled  notes,  inquisi- 
tive to  see  what  the  other  bird  is  about.  Bird-study  leads  to 
many  stimulating  and  worth-while  problems.  It  develops  an 
appreciation  for  some  of  the  most  beautiful  creatures  and  adds 
not  a  little  to  one's  aesthetic  satisfaction. 

And  yet  these  values  seem  subordinate  to  the  opportunity  to 
help  children  to  be  really  useful  in  protecting  and  increasing  the 
number  of  so  valuable  an  element  in  the  life  of  any  community. 
Let  sensory  impressions  and  information  result  in  action,  as  it 
always  should.  Birds,  like  trees  and  flowers,  are  a  part  of  the 
gladsomeness  of  nature  that  should  enter  largely  into  the  joy 
of  living.  Moreover,  they  are  not  only  beautiful  but  are  com- 
mercially so  very  valuable  that  every  child  should  be  led  to  add 


17$       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


to  the  commercial  assets  of  the  world  by  protecting  these  allies 
of  man,  thereby  adding  immensely  also  to  his  real  wealth  of 
happiness  and  contentment.  Children  may  build  bird  houses, 
feeding  shelves,  baths,  and  drinking  fountains;  they  may  plant 
shrubs  and  trees  that  afford  natural  food  and  nesting  sites  and 
they  may  help  destroy  or  control  the  birds'  enemies. 

Attracting  wild  birds. — There  are  a  number  of  devices  for 
attracting  the  birds  to  the  home  grounds,  school  yards,  or  public 

parks,  such  as  the  planting  of 
tangles  of  trees  and  shrubs, 
providing  food,  especially  in 
the  winter,  providing  water 
for  drinking  and  for  the  bath, 
and  furnishing  nest  boxes  in 
which  birds  may  rear  their 
young.  On  large  estates,  in 
city  parks,  and  especially  on 
the  government  bird  reserva- 
tions, stretches  of  varied 
country  give  nesting  sites 
under  the  best  of  conditions 
for  all  sorts  of  birds — water 
birds,  shore  birds,  birds  that 
nest  in  the  open  prairies,  birds 
of  the  forest.  This  is  not  pos- 
sible for  the  owner  of  a  small 
home  place,  yet  some  steps 
may  be  taken  on  the  farm  or 
city  lot  to  induce  birds  to  visit,  feed,  and  nest  upon  the  premises, 
and  such  efforts  are  abundantly  repaid. 

Bird  houses. — The  birds  that  most  often  patronize  the  nest 
boxes  are  house  wrens,  bluebirds,  purple  martins,  and  wood- 
peckers. Almost  any  container  will  do  for  wrens,  a  tin  can,  a 
cigar  box,  or  a  diminutive  cottage.  Make  the  entrance  hole  no 
larger  than  a  quarter-dollar  so  that  the  English  sparrow  cannot 


FIG.  129. — Nest  box  of  woodpecker 
(from  Siepert's  Bird  Homes  Boys  Can 
Make). 


BIRDS  179 

enter,  and  Jennie  wren  and  her  spouse  will  be  quite  at  home. 
Bluebirds  take  equally  kindly  to  any  box  into  which  they  can  get. 
Boys  and  girls  will  make  very  attractive  houses  with  odd  bits  of 
lumber,  wooden  paint  pails,  or  pickle  pails  and  old  tin  pail  covers 
that  can  be  bent  into  shape  for  peaked  roofs  on  cylindrical 
houses.  The  woodpecker's  box  (Fig.  129)  needs  to  be  deep  and 
to  have  some  cleats  tacked  on  just  below  the  hole  so  that  the  bird 
can  get  a  firm  hold  when  it  alights.  Coarse  sawdust  or  granu- 
lated cork,  like  that  used  to  pack  white  grapes,  is  to  be  placed 
in  the  bottom  of  the  box  to  make  it  seem  like  an  excavated  tree 
trunk.  The  wren's  house  may  be  placed  almost  anywhere; 
the  bluebird's  house  should  go  on  a  tree  or  tall  shrub  or  on  a  post 
in  the  garden,  but  the  woodpecker's  box  is  most  likely  to  be 
inhabited  if  set  up  on  the  tree  at  a  distance  of  twelve  or  fifteen 
feet  from  the  ground.  In  all  cases  it  is  wise  to  make  the  house 
in  the  fall  or  winter  and  put  it  out  so  that  it  may  weather  for  a 
few  weeks  before  the  birds  arrive  so  as  to  free  it  from  the  odor 
of  paint  and  the  man  smell. 

Purple  martins  are  pestered  by  English  sparrows  about  the 
city.  The  nest  box  must  be  built  with  considerable  capacity 
(Fig.  130),  so  that  a  whole  colony  can  nest  together  for  defensive 
purposes,  and  it  must  have  several  doors  so  that  the  martins 
can  get  in  and  out  with  ease.  Then  the  martins  hold  their  own 
and  drive  off  the  sparrows,  but  if  only  one  door  gives  access 
to  the  interior  of  the  house  the  sparrows  take  possession  and 
the  martins  cannot  successfully  besiege  their  stronghold.  The 
house  should  also  be  arranged  so  that  each  pair  of  martins  has 
a  separate  compartment  not  exposed  to  drafts,  else  the  young 
birds  sicken  and  die.  A  good  house  plan  is  shown  in  Fig.  130; 
the  house  may  be  built  two  or  three  stories  high.  Set  the 
house  on  a  tall  pole,  if  possible,  over  a  clump  of  shrubs  or  a  group 
of  trees,  preferably  near  a  pond.  Instal  some  device  so  that  the 
doors  may  be  kept  closed  until  the  martins  arrive  in  the  spring, 
for  they  will  not  occupy  a  house  that  has  been  cluttered  up  by 
sparrows.  Shut  the  house  up  after  the  martins  have  left  each  fall. 


l8o       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Bath  and  fountain. — The  bird  bath  and  drinking  fountain  may 
be  combined.  A  shallow,  galvanized  iron  pan  can  be  sunk  level 
with  the  ground  under  a  garden-hose  faucet  that  is  allowed  to 
drip,  or  the  water  may  be  replenished  in  the  pan  twice  daily 
(Fig.  131).  The  water  must  be  fresh  and  the  pan  kept  clean  in 
order  to  be  attractive.  The  birds  enjoy  cold  water  in  the 
summer,  when  the  drip  from  the  refrigerator  may  be  advan- 
tageously used.  In  the  winter  possibly  the  exhaust  from  the 
steam  heating  plant  can  be  utilized  so  as  to  keep  the  bath  and 


FIG.  130.— The  purple  martin  house 

drinking  fountain  from  freezing.  The  bath  may  be  located  near 
a  window,  among  shrubbery,  and  then  the  daily  ablutions  may 
be  watched  readily,  or  it  may  be  a  part  of  the  equipment  of  the 
feeding  shelf.  More  elaborate  baths  may  be  set  up  as  ornaments 
in  the  garden  or  may  be  made  a  detail  of  the  fountain. 

Feeding  devices. — The  feeding  shelf  is  simply  a  roofed  platform 
or  open  shelf,  preferably  located  in  the  shrubbery  near  a  window 
so  that  its  visitors  may  be  seen  from  the  living-room  (Fig.  132). 
A  window  box  in  which  plants  are  grown  in  the  summer  may  be 
utilized  for  a  feeding  platform  in  the  winter.  Stick  some 


BIRDS  181 

branches  of  evergreen  or  some  seed-bearing  weed  stalks  around 
the  edges  to  give  some  privacy.  There  is  little  use  of  providing 
food  during  the  late  spring  or  the  summer,  for  then  the  birds 
prefer  what  they  glean  for  themselves,  but  in  the  autumn  and 
winter  the  birds  will  gladly  patronize  the  feeding  shelf  (Fig.  133). 
Chopped  nuts,  bread  crumbs,  young  chick  feed,  chopped  meat, 
and  meal  worms  that  can  be  bought  at  the  bird  store  or  raised 


FIG.  131. — The  bird  bath:  the  cover  of  an  old  galvanized  iron  ash  pail  was 
sunk  upside  down  at  the  edge  of  the  garden  on  the  lawn.  A  flat  rock  afforded  a 
good  bathing  beach.  The  pan,  kept  full  of  water,  was  much  appreciated  by  the 
birds. 

at  home  in  corn  meal  are  all  excellent  attractions.  The  pan  of 
water  is  a  grateful  addition.  Pieces  of  suet,  strings  of  unshelled 
peanuts  or  of  raisins  tied  up  in  the  trees,  and  chick  feed  scattered 
under  the  shrubbery  will  help  bring  birds  to  your  place.  It  is 
surprising  how  such  feeding  places,  well  stocked,  will  draw  birds 
even  in  the  crowded  tenement  districts  of  the  city  and  up  at 
third-  and  fourth-story  windows.  In  such  situations,  while 
English  sparrows  predominate,  many  other  birds  are  also 
frequent  visitors. 


182       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


Finally,  one  may  keep  the  needs  of  the  birds  in  mind  when 
planting  trees  and  shrubs  on  the  home  grounds.  Many  native 
trees  and  shrubs  whose  fruits  the  birds  eat  may  be  brought  in 
from  the  woods,  and  they  are  just  as  ornamental  as  imported 
stock  purchased  of  the  nurseryman,  though  there  are  many 
varieties  of  nursery  stock  which  bear  fruits  that  are  also  greedily 

eaten  by  the  birds.  There  follows  a 
list  of  some  of  the  best  trees,  shrubs, 
and  vines  for  this  purpose. 

Trees:  cherry,  both  wild  and  culti- 
vated, flowering  dogwood,  hackberry, 
hawthorns  of  all  species,  American  holly 
and  winter  holly,  juniper,  mulberry, 
both  red  and  white,  pines,  spruces,  and 
tupelo.  Among  the  cherries,  the  black, 
choke,  pin,  and  sand  cherries  are  usu- 
ally available.  The  pines  and  spruces 
are  valuable  largely  as  shelters  and 
nesting  sites. 

Shrubs:  bayberry, blackberry, black 
haw,  blueberry,  cornel  or  dogwood  of 
various  species,  elderberry,  gooseberry, 
huckleberry,  raspberry,  wild  rose,  snow- 
berry,  spicebush,  sumacs  of  all  species, 
viburnums. 

Vines :  bittersweet,  grapes  of  all  wild  species,  Virginia  creeper. 
Birds'  enemies. — There  is  little  use  in  attempting  to  attract 
the  birds  to  your  neighborhood  unless  the  cat  and  the  English 
sparrow,  their  worst  enemies  in  civilization,  are  banished  from 
the  place.  Sparrows  are  so  pugnacious  that  they  drive  away 
other  birds,  especially  at  nesting  time;  for  two  successive  years 
they  have  thrown  the  eggs  out  of  my  bluebirds'  nest  box  and 
persecuted  the  house  wrens  until  the  pests  were  killed.  They 
have  been  justly  called  "the  bird  rats,"  and  they  need  to  be 
exterminated  in  order  that  our  native  and  valuable  stock  may  be 


FIG.  132. — Outdoor  feeding 
shelf  erected  by  Rockford 
(Illinois)  Nature -Study  So- 
ciety in  City  Park. 


BIRDS 


183 


protected.  The  sparrows,  imported  to  eat  up  insect  larvae  that 
were  damaging  shade  trees,  failed  at  that  task  and  have  come  to 
feed  largely  on  refuse  and  are  quite  useless.  They  may  be 
poisoned,  trapped,  or  shot,  using  .22  shells  loaded  with  dust 
shot. 

Accustom  the  sparrows  to  feed  from  a  certain  pan  or  feeding 
trough,  using  chick  feed  or  wheat.  Then  every  few  days  sub- 
stitute poisoned  feed  for  the  regular  diet.  Leave  the  poisoned 
grain  out  only  a  short  time  and  pick  up  any  that  may  have  been 
scattered,  so  that  other  birds  will  not  eat  it,  though  there  is  little 
danger  of  this  if  the  poisoning  is  done  in  the  winter  when  few 


FIG.  133. — White-throated  sparrow  on  feeding  shelf  outside  a  window 

other  birds  are  about.  If  the  poisoned  food  is  put  out  after  a 
snowstorm  it  will  be  most  efficient,  for  the  usual  sources  of  food 
are  then  covered  up.  Sparrows  live  in  a  very  restricted  area,  and 
if  they  are  killed  off  in  your  block  the  native  birds  about  your 
home  will  not  be  bothered  much,  even  though  many  sparrows 
live  in  adjacent  blocks. 

The  grain  is  best  poisoned  with  strychnine.  Dissolve  one- 
sixteenth  of  an  ounce  of  strychnine  sulphate  in  a  half -pint  of  hot 
water.  Soak  one  pint  of  grain  in  this  solution  until  the  water  is 
all  absorbed ;  then  spread  the  grain  out  on  a  paper  to  dry.  Feed 
the  sparrows  this  dry  grain.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  this 
material  should  only  be  in  the  hands  of  very  responsible  persons. 


184       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

The  sparrow  trap  may  either  be  a  food  trap  or  a  nest  trap. 
For  the  latter  build  a  deep  nest  box  on  one  side  of  which  is  a 
sliding  plate  of  glass  so  that  the  interior  is  plainly  in  view  and 
may  be  reached  by  lifting  the  glass.  Just  below  the  hole,  which 
is  well  up  on  the  nest  box,  place  a  balanced  board  which  will  form 
the  floor  for  the  nest  box  and  an  alighting  shelf  outside.  When 
the  sparrow  walks  into  the  nest  box  the  floor  suddenly  sinks  with 
his  weight  while  the  shelf  raises  to  close  the  opening  as  the 
sparrow  slides  down  into  the  interior  of  the  box,  where  he  can  be 
seen  and  killed.  If  some  other  bird  is  trapped  he  is  released  by 
simply  raising  the  glass.  The  floor  and  the  sides  must  be  smooth 
so  that  the  sparrow  can  get  no  hold  to  keep  from  sliding  down, 


FIG.  134. — Wire  trap  for  sparrows,  side  raised 

and  the  tilting  board  must  be  so  weighted  that  it  will  drop  back 
into  place  when  the  sparrow  is  trapped.  This  trap  is  especially 
valuable  in  spring,  when  young  birds  are  seeking  nesting  sites. 

For  the  trap  that  is  to  be  baited  make  a  boxlike  frame,  i  by 
ij  by  3  feet,  of  heavy  wire,  such  as  telephone  wire  (Fig.  134). 
Cover  all  but  one  side  (which  is  to  be  the  bottom  of  the  trap) 
and  one  end  with  inch-mesh  chicken  wire.  Cut  out  two  pieces 
of  the  same  wire  according  to  the  patterns  (Fig.  136).  The 
figures  are  easily  laid  out  on  a  large  sheet  of  paper  by  the 
measures  indicated.  For  the  first  figure  draw  four  concentric 
circles  with  radii  of  5,  9!,  1 6,  and  20  inches.  Line  2-3  is  drawn 
as  an  1 8-inch  chord  in  the  outer  circle.  Lines  1-2  and  3-4  are 
1 2 -inch  lines  that  just  touch  the  next  smaller  circle.  To  points 
i  and  4  draw  radii.  They  cut  the  inner  circle  at  5  and  7.  To 


•  BIRDS  185 

lay  out  the  second  pattern  draw  three  concentric  circles  of  io|-, 
15-,  and  i7-inch  radii.  Points  10, 9, 18,  and  17  all  lie  in  the  outer 
circle.  Both  point  13  and  point  14  lie  in  the  inner  circle  and  n 
and  1 2  in  the  middle  one.  Bend  along  the  lines  shown  in  Fig.  135. 
Fasten  the  second  funnel  sixteen  inches  back  of  the  first  and 
pointing  in  the  same  direction.  Cut  a  hole  at  ground  level  in  the 
closed  end  of  the  trap  and  fasten  in  a  box  with  a  sliding  door 
through  which  the  sparrows  may  be  driven  from  the  trap  and 
chloroformed  after  the  door  has  been  closed.  Scatter  a  little 
grain  or  some  crumbs  in  the  open  end  of  the  trap  and  make  a 
trail  of  the  feed  that  leads  through  the  small  ends  of  the  funnels 


FIG.  135. — Pattern  of  the  sparrow  trap  shown  in  Fig.  134.  The  figures  that 
follow  are  patterns  of  the  first  and  second  funnels;  the  wavy  line  shows  a  half -inch 
overlap  of  wire  to  fasten  to  the  sides  (from  Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  493). 

to  the  chamber  near  the  box.  Sparrows  go  in  readily,  but  in 
trying  to  get  out  the  small  ends  of  the  funnels  are  hard  to  find. 
The  trap  must  be  moved  from  one  location  to  another,  as  the 
birds  become  very  shy  of  any  locality  in  which  disaster  overtakes 
their  kin.  A  trap  that  is  an  improvement  over  this  homemade 
affair,  but  built  on  much  the  same  line,  is  on  the  market  (the 
Dodson  sparrow  trap). 

The  cat. — Few  persons  realize  how  many  domestic  cats  there 
are  ranging  the  yards  and  fields  at  night,  and  fewer  still  know  that 
many  of  these  are  real  wild  cats,  once  domestic  but  now  owner- 
less and  forced  to  hunt  for  a  living.  The  Animal  Rescue  League 
of  Boston,  operating  in  that  city  and  its  suburbs,  mercifully  put 


l86       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

out  of  the  way  more  than  30,000  vagabond  cats  in  1914;  and 
the  New  York  City  Branch  of  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of 
Cruelty  to  Animals  performed  a  similar  kindly  office  for  over  a 
quarter  of  a  million  cats,  dogs,  and  other  small  animals.  It  is 
believed  that  homeless  cats  are  equally  numerous  in  the  country, 
where  trappers  report  that  they  are  caught  in  the  traps  set  for 
fur-bearing  animals  quite  as  frequently  as  all  other  kinds  of 
animals  put  together.  These  animals  are  not  in  evidence  except 
to  keen  eyes,  for  they  are  furtive  and  elusive  and  hunt  largely 


FIG.  136. — Patterns  of  first  and  second  funnels 

at  night;  often  the  tracks  on  the  snow  and  the  remains  of  their 
kills  are  the  best  evidence  of  their  numbers. 

A  census  of  Massachusetts  gave  an  average  of  three  cats  per 
farm;  Chapman  estimates  the  cat  population  of  the  United 
States  at  about  25,000,000.  In  Edward  H.  Forbush's  Domestic 
Cat,  a  bulletin  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agriculture, 
from  which  much  of  this  information  is  taken,  he  says  that  two 
hundred  and  twenty-six  competent  observers,  in  all  parts  of  the 
state,  report  on  an  average  three  birds  as  the  number  they 
have  known  a  cat  to  kill  in  one  day,  with  a  maximum  of  four- 
teen birds.  He  estimates  that  700,000  birds  are  annually  killed 
in  Massachusetts  by  cats.  "Dr.  A.  K,  Fisher,  in  charge  of  the 


BIRDS 


187 


Economic  Investigations  of  the  Biological  Survey,  estimates  that 
the  cats  of  New  York  state  destroy  3,500,000  birds  annually. 
Mr.  Albert  H.  Pratt  calculates  that  the  farm  cats  of  Illinois  kill 
2,508,530  birds  yearly.''  In  maintaining  a  game  preserve  it  is 
always  necessary  to  exterminate  the  cats  if  game  birds  are  being 
reared.  Herbert  K.  Job  estimated  that  five  cats  cost  the  New 


FIG.  137. — Picture  and  plan  of  cat  trap  (Mellott's  model) 

York  state  game  farm  $1,000  before  they  were  killed.  It  is  not 
alone  the  vagrant  cat  that  kills  the  birds,  for  the  domestic  pussy 
kills  for  sport  at  least;  she  must  be  tethered  or  caged  by  day  and 
night  to  prevent  her,  for  she  will  kill  birds  even  when  she  is  well 
fed  and  wears  a  bell.  Moreover,  she  is  a  relatively  useless  pet; 
rat  traps  properly  set  will  catch  many  more  rats  and  mice  than 
the  best  of  mousers.  A  box  trap  with  a  door  that  falls  when  the 


i88       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

bait  is  pulled  is  the  best  device  for  catching  stray  cats  (Fig.  137) ; 
a  bunch  of  catnip  is  the  best  bait,  but  a  fish  head  is  excellent. 
Have  a  hole  in  the  box  large  enough  to  see  what  animal  has  been 
caught;  vagrants  are  usually  lean  and  mangy.  To  kill  the  cat 
pour  a  couple  of  ounces  of  chloroform  on  the  floor  of  the  box 
through  the  peephole  and  cover  the  trap  with  a  blanket  or  shoot 
the  cat  through  the  head. 


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United  States  Department  of  Agriculture: 

Erroneous  Ideas  Concerning  Hawks  and  Owls.    Yearbook,  1895.    $0.55. 

Birds  That  Injure  Grain.    Yearbook,  1897.    $0.60. 

Birds  as  Weed  Destroyers.    Yearbook,  1898.    $0.60. 

Food  of  Nesting  Birds.    Yearbook,  1900.    $0.75. 

Some  New  Facts  about  the  Migration  of  Birds .     Yearbook ,  1 903 .     $0.75. 

Economic  Value  of  Predaceous  Birds  and  Mammals.    Yearbook,  1908. 

$0.60. 
Separates : 

No.  197,  How  Birds  A  feet  the  Orchard. 

No.  443,  Does  It  Pay  the  Farmer  to  Protect  the  Birds. 

No.  504,  Plants  Useful  to  Attract  Birds  and  Protect  Fruits. 

No.  590,  Our  Meadowlarks  in  Relation  to  Agriculture. 

No.  601,  Relation  of  Birds  to  Grain  Aphids. 
Bulletins: 

No.  187,  Preliminary  Census  of  the  Birds  of  the  United  States. 

No.  619,  Food  Habits  of  the  Swallows. 
National  Museum  Reports: 

Comparative  Oology  of  North  American  Birds.     1892.    $i  .00. 
Bulletins  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Biological  Survey: 

No.      9,  Cuckoos  and  Shrikes  in  Their  Relation  to  Agriculture. 

No.    15,  Relation  of  Sparrows  to  Agriculture. 

No.    17,  Birds  of  a  Maryland  Farm. 

No.    1 8,  Distribution  and  Migration  of  North  American  Warblers. 

No.    21,  The  Bobwhite  and  Other  Quails  of  the  United  States  in  Their 
Economic  Relation. 


BIRDS  igi 

No.    22,  Birds  Known  to  Eat  the  Boll  Worm. 

No.    23,  The  Horned  Larks  and  Their  Relation  to  Agriculture. 

No.    25,  Birds  that  Eat  the  Cotton-Boll  Weevil. 

No.    26,  Distribution  and  Migration  of  North  American  Ducks,  Geese, 

and  Swans. 

No.    27,  The  North  American  Eagles  and  Their  Economic  Relations. 
No.    29,  The  Relation  of  Birds  to  the  Cotton-Boll  Weevil. 
No.    30,  The  Birds  of  Colorado  in  Relation  to  the  Fruit  Industry. 
No.    32,  Food  Habit  of  the  Grosbeak. 
No.    34,  Birds  of  California. 

No.    35,  Distribution  and  Migration  of  North  American  Shore  Birds. 
No.    37,  Food  of  the  Woodpeckers  of  the  United  States. 
No.    38,  Birds  of  Arkansas. 

No.    39,  Woodpeckers  in  Relation  to  Tree  and  Wood  Products. 
No.    44,  Food  of  Our  More  Important  Fly  Catchers. 
No.  171,  Food  of  the  Robins  and  Bluebirds  of  the  United  States. 
No.  280,  Food  Habits  of  the  Thrushes  of  the  United  States. 
Circulars: 

No.  17,  Bird  Day  in  the  Schools. 
No.  56,  Value  of  Swallows  as  Insect  Destroyers. 
No.  61,  Hawks  and  Owls  from  the  Standpoint  of  the  Farmer. 
No.  64,  Destruction  of  the  Cotton-Boll  Weevil  by  Birds  in  Winter. 
No.  79,  Our  Vanishing  Shore  Birds. 
Farmers'  Bulletins: 

No.  383,  How  to  Destroy  English  Sparrows. 

No.  456,  Our  Grosbeaks  and  Their  Value  in  Agriculture. 

No.  493,  The  English  Sparrow  as  a  Pest. 

No.  497,  Some  Common  Game,  Aquatic,  and  Rapacious  Birds  in  Relation 

to  Man. 

No.  506,  Food  of  Some  Well-known  Birds  of  Forest,  Farm,  and  Garden. 
No.  513,  Fifty  Common  Birds  of  Farm  and  Orchard. 
No.  609,  Birdhouses  and  How  to  Build  Them. 
No.  621,  How  to  Attract  Birds  in  Northeastern  United  States. 
No.  630,  Some  Common  Birds  Useful  to  the  Farmer. 
No.  755,  Common  Birds  of  Southeastern  United  States  in  Relation  to 

Agriculture. 

No.  760,  How  to  Attract  Birds  in  Northwestern  United  States. 
No.  844,  How  to  Attract  Birds  in  the  Middle  Atlantic  States. 
No.  912,  How  to  Attract  Birds  in  the  East  Central  States. 

Farmers'  bulletins  are  issued  by  the  United  States  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, Washington,  B.C. 


CHAPTER  V 
ANIMAL  COMPANIONS 

The  hunter. — One  group  of  animals  is  a  source  of  perennial 
interest  to  both  child  and  man:  it  is  the  group  of  animals  that 
have  been  companions  to  him  through  the  long  ages  of  his  rise 
from  savagery  to  civilization.  Back  in  primitive  times,  almost 
as  early  as  man's  remains  are  recognized  as  such,  when  his 
implements  were  implements  of  flint  and  his  home  was  still  a 
cave,  the  bones  of  his  faithful  dog  are  found  along  with  those  of 
his  master.  Probably  this  same  dog  was  no  small  element  in  the 
successful  survival  of  the  human  race,  for  his  keen  sense  of  smell, 
his  endurance  in  the  chase,  and  his  loyalty  made  him  an  inval- 
uable ally  in  hunting;  with  his  aid  man  could  safely  attack  the 
more  ferocious  animals  of  his  environment.  The  dog  comes  down 
to  us  from  that  early  day  when  man  was  a  nomadic  hunter. 

There  are  other  animals,  too,  that  have  been  trained  by  man 
to  share  in  his  hunt;  such  for  instance  are  the  cheetah,  or  hunting 
lion,  of  Mexico  and  Central  America;  the  falcon,  used  so  com- 
monly in  England  in  the  capture  of  pheasants  and  other  small 
game;  the  ferret,  that  is  no  mean  helper  of  the  poultryman. 
While  the  elephant  can  hardly  be  classed  as  a  hunting  anymal  yet 
it  commonly  takes  part  in  the  hunt,  not  as  a  dog  in  tracking  the 
prey,  but  simply  as  a  means  of  making  a  way  through  the  other- 
wise impenetrable  jungles  into  the  lair  of  the  tiger  or  lion.  The 
hunter  finds  its  back  a  place  of  safety,  and  from  this  point  of 
vantage  he  shoots  his  arrows,  throws  his  spear,  or  kills  with  the 
more  formidable  modern  rifle. 

The  herdsman. — But  the  domestication  of  another  group  of 
these  animal  companions  facilitated  man's  advance  from  the 
crude  civilization  of  a  nomadic  hunter  to  that  of  the  herdsman 
with  his  flocks.  When  man  succeeded  in  sufficiently  taming  such 

IQ2 


ANIMAL  COMPANIONS  193 

animals  as  the  goat,  sheep,  cow,  and  hog  so  that  they  would 
remain  near  his  habitation  and  under  his  care  he  became  more 
or  less  independent  of  the  uncertain  supplies  of  wild  game  as  a 
source  of  food  and  clothing.  The  skins  of  such  animals  probably 
made  his  tent  a  more  convenient  dwelling  than  the  chance  cave. 

There  is  no  sharp  distinction  between  the  animals  that  made 
up  the  wealth  of  the  primitive  herdsman  and  those  that  may  be 
designated  the  beasts  of  burden.  The  nomadic  herdsman, 
changing  his  location  as  new  grazing  territory  was  needed,  must 
of  necessity  have  carried  his  household  effects  with  him,  and  not 
infrequently  he  used  the  same  cattle  that  supplied  him  with  food, 
clothing,  and  shelter  as  a  means  of  transportation.  The  horse, 
the  ox,  and  the  llama  are  still  valuable  chiefly  as  beasts  of  burden. 

Pets. — It  is  quite  natural  that  as  man  associated  so  constantly 
with  these  domesticated  animals  there  should  grow  up  between 
him  and  them  a  degree  of  attachment.  Not  infrequently  the  colt 
or  the  calf,  kept  for  utility  primarily,  comes  to  be  quite  as  much 
of  a  pet  as  the  cat  that  is  kept  largely  for  sentiment.  But  there 
are  animals  that  serve  us  simply  as  pets  and  that  probably  have 
never  had  any  other  than  an  aesthetic  value ;  such  are  the  canary 
bird  and  the  goldfish.  Whether  it  is  a  recapitulation  of  racial 
history  that  makes  the  boy  and  girl  so  fond  of  their  pets  or 
whether  the  phenomenon  is  to  have  some  other  explanation,  it  is 
certain  that  animal  companions  may  be  made  to  serve  a  very 
useful  purpose  in  education.  It  is  an  excellent  thing  for  a 
growing  boy  to  have  some  animal  dependent  upon  him  for  its 
comfort.  Its  demands  are  insistent;  it  must  have  proper 
shelter,  must  have  food  with  regularity,  and  must  be  kept  clean. 
It  goes  without  saying  that  a  neglected  animal  is  worse  than  none, 
but  that  same  remark  would  apply  equally  well  to  almost  any 
adult  responsibility.  It  is  a  part  of  the  educative  process  to  see 
that  the  child  does  meet  the  responsibilities  that  he  assumes. 
Then,  too,  many  physiological  facts  are  learned  incidentally  in 
caring  for  the  animal  companions.  It  is  true  that  there  is  some 
danger  that  the  child  will  get  an  improper  perspective  in  viewing 


194       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

bodily  functions  from  the  standpoint  of  the  animal;  and  yet  that 
is  much  more  likely  to  be  healthfully  corrected  than  are  the 
erroneous  notions  with  which  he  arrives  at  an  age  of  social 
responsibility  if  he  has  had- no  experience  with  such  vital  matters. 


FIG.  138.— Chums 

The  fault  is  largely  in  his  instruction  and  the  neglect  of  opportu- 
nities if  his  notions  of  sex  relations,  for  instance,  are  allowed  to 
remain  on  a  purely  animal  plane. 

Animal  educators. — There  is  something  fine  in  the  compan- 
ionship of  an  intelligent  animal,  especially  that  of  a  dog.  To  one 
who  looks  back  upon  a  boyhood  in  which  a  dog  was  companion 


ANIMAL  COMPANIONS  195 

of  many  adventures,  playmate,  sympathetic  confidant,  a  chum 
always  ready  for  a  romp  or  a  tussle,  it  seems  almost  a  crime  to 
bring  up  a  boy,  at  least,  without  the  chance  to  repeat  the 
delectable  racial  comradeship. 

So  important  are  the  educational  advantages  of  association 
with  the  animal  companions,  that  it  seems  worth  while  to  bring 
them  into  the  school  curriculum;  not  only  that,  but  it  is  quite 
feasible  to  bring  the  animals  themselves  into  the  schoolroom  and 
to  study  at  first  hand  many  of  their  interesting  characteristics. 
Under  city  conditions,  where  it  is  difficult  for  children  to  get  out 
of  doors  for  nature-study,  these  animals  are  one  of  the  chief 
resources  of  the  nature  teacher.  And  even  in  the  town  and 
country  the  child's  interest  in  such  materials  is  so  great  that  it 
pays  to  study  some  of  these  animals  in  the  school  as  well  as  to 
encourage  their  maintenance  in  the  home. 

Animals  at  school. — This  is  not  as  difficult  a  proposition  as 
it  seems  at  first.  The  boy  or  girl  will  bring  the  pet  dog  to  school, 
day  after  day,  to  serve  as  a  basis  for  several  lessons.  The  cat 
may  be  brought,  too.  Many  of  the  animals  may  be  kept  in 
appropriate  pens  or  cages  in  the  schoolroom — rabbits,  guinea- 
pigs,  white  mice,  chickens,  ringdoves,  pigeons,  canaries,  all  adopt 
the  schoolroom  as  a  home  very  willingly.  Many  of  the  wild 
animals  may  be  kept  in  the  schoolroom.  A  number  of  common 
fishes  will  live  very  comfortably  in  the  schoolroom  aquaria. 
Squirrels,  gophers,  field  mice,  wild  birds,  such  as  a  covey  of 
young  quail,  frogs,  toads,  lizards,  and  even  snakes  are  a  part  of 
the  schoolroom  equipment  in  many  centers  of  enthusiastic 
nature-study.  Obviously  it  is  of  first  importance  to  know  how 
to  obtain  and  take  care  of  such  creatures. 

Cages. — In  the  author's  experience  it  has  been  found  advisable 
to  keep  only  one  sort  of  animal  in  the  schoolroom  at  a  time,  unless 
the  animals  are  those  that  live  in  the  aquaria.  But  if  the  cages 
are  those  that  can  be  easily  moved  (Fig.  139),  a  small  stock  of 
animals  may  give  to  each  grade  some  experience  with  each  in 
turn.  Probably  in  time  an  animal  house  will  be  built  in  the 


196       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

school  yard  and  in  it  the  animals  may  live  under  very  natural 
conditions;  to  it  the  children  may  go  for  their  nature  lessons,  a 
plan  that  avoids  many  difficulties  for  the  teacher  and  discomforts 
for  the  animals.  Still,  the  small  indoor  cages  are  quite  feasible. 
Make  a  rectangular  frame  of  one-and-one-half-inch  lumber  and 
cover  it  except  the  bottom  and  one  end  with  inch-mesh  chicken 
wire.  Make  the  bottom  of  flooring  with  groove  and  tenon,  so 


FIG.  139. — The  indoor  cage 

that  it  will  be  tight.  Set  a  door  frame  in  the  open  end  and  cover 
it  with  the  wire;  hinge  it  and  provide  it  with  hasp  and  staple. 
Run  a  six-inch-wide  strip  of  half -inch  stuff  all  around  the  outside 
of  the  cage  at  floor  level  so  that  the  animals  cannot  so  readily 
scatter  the  sawdust  or  straw  that  covers  the  cage  floor.  Casters 
will  make  it  easy  to  move  the  cage  from  room  to  room.  If 
chickens  or  pigeons  are  to  be  kept  in  the  cage  provide  it  with  a 
couple  of  roosts.  It  is  also  well  in  all  cases  to  provide  the  cage 
with  a  small  box,  on  one  side  of  which  a  door  may  be  cut,  so  that 


ANIMAL  COMPANIONS 


197 


the  animals  may  go  into  a  dark  retreat  to  sleep  and  rest  when 
they  so  desire. 

Such  a  cage,  while  a  great  convenience,  is  by  no  means  a 
necessity  when  a  pair  of  animals  are  to  be  kept  in  the  school  only 
for  a  short  time.  Any  small  box  may  have  its  open  side  covered 
with  chicken  wire  and  serve  as  a  temporary  cage;  if  rodents, 
such  as  rabbits  or  squirrels,  are  to  be  kept  it  is  well  to  cover  the 
whole  box  with  the  wire,  as  they  readily  gnaw  through  thin 


FIG.  140. — View  of  animal  houses  and  some  of  the  pens,  Gary,  Indiana 

boards.  Do  not  use  painted  wire  netting  for  the  cages,  for 
animals  will  gnaw  off  the  paint  with  which  it  is  coated  and 
the  results  may  be  disastrous  to  them.  Straw,  sawdust,  or  dry 
earth  spread  on  the  bottom  of  the  cage  will  add  to  the  animals' 
comfort.  A  pan  of  drinking  water  should  always  be  provided 
and  the  cage  must  be  kept  clean. 

Care  of  pets. — The  house  the  animal  is  to  occupy  permanently 
should  be  built  so  that  it  is  warm,  dry,  light,  and  easily  cleaned 
(Fig.  140).  The  dog  kennel,  for  instance,  must  be  built  of 
sufficient  size  so  that  the  animal,  when  full-grown,  can  stretch 


198       SOURCE  BOOK  OP  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

out  full  length  inside;  it  should  have  double  walls  with  air  space 
between  and  should  be  made  windproof ,  either  by  using  matched 
lumber  or  building  paper;  the  floor  must  be  raised  off  the  ground 
and  a  couple  of  windows  or  ventilators  provided  to  give  an 
abundance  of  light  and  fresh  air.  One  end  of  the  kennel  should 
be  made  so  that  it  can  be  removed  entirely  in  order  to  make  it 
easy  to  clean  the  interior.  If  the  dog  must  be  kept  chained,  as 
is  often  the  case  in  the  cities,  give  him  a  long,  strong  chain  that 
slips  along  an  overhead  wire  so  that  he  may  run  back  and  forth. 
Rabbits  and  cavies  (Fig.  141)  may  be  kept  in  a  similar  house, 
subdivided  inside  so  that  each  female  may  have  a  separate  pen. 


FIG.  141. — A  white,  short-haired  cavy  or  guinea-pig 

Only  one  male  should  be  kept  in  the  house,  for  the  males  fight 
badly,  and  that  one  should  be  taken  out  if  young  are  born,  for 
the  males  often  eat  their  offspring.  The  young  of  these  animals 
should  not  be  handled  at  all  until  they  are  well  covered  with  hair; 
the  man  smell  upon  them  seems  to  incite  the  mother  to  kill  them 
and  eat  them.  The  house  should  connect  with  a  generous  yard 
or  runway,  fenced  with  inch-mesh  chicken  wire  that  runs  a  foot 
below  the  ground  so  that  rabbits  will  not  burrow  out.  The 
pigeon  cote  or  chicken  coop  needs  to  have  a  cement  floor  or  else 
to  be  set  up  on  posts  so  that  rats  will  not  get  in,  for  these  animals 
will  steal  eggs  and  destroy  young  as  fast  as  they  appear.  The 
yard  or  flying  pen  is  best  fenced  and  roofed  with  inch-mesh 
chicken  wire. 


ANIMAL  COMPANIONS  199 

Wild  animals. — In  keeping  wild  animals  try  to  make  their 
back-yard  pen  as  nearly  like  their  native  haunts  as  possible. 
The  pen  in  which  turtles  or  frogs  are  confined  must  have  a  broad 
shallow  pan  of  water  sunk  flush  with  the  ground;  some  blue 
flags  or  cat-tails  may  be  planted  at  its  margin.  An  alligator 
may  be  kept  in  such  a  pen,  too,  and  transferred  in  the  early  fall 
to  a  washtub  or  large  aquarium  indoors  in  which  the  water  is 
shallow  and  which  is  provided  with  a  mud  bank  or  a  wood  plat- 
form at  one  side  so  that  the  animal  may  crawl  out  to  bask  in  the 
sun.  Porcupines,  woodchucks,  racoons,  opossums,  crows,  ducks, 
snakes,  all  thrive  in  confinement  if  given  good  care.  A  washtub 
or  a  half-barrel  makes  a  pond  that  is  roomy  enough  to  be  the 
home  of  many  of  the  smaller  fish,  and  a  lad  might  come  to  know 
the  habits  of  many  of  the  common  fish  of  ponds  and  streams  by 
stocking  such  a  back-yard  pool  some  summer.  Wash  some  sand 
and  gravel  and  throw  it  in  on  the  bottom.  Plant  some  pond 
weeds  in  this,  such  as  are  suggested  in  the  chapter  on  animals  of 
pond  and  stream  (p.  6).  Minnows  and  other  small  fish  may  be 
caught  in  a  net  that  is  made  by  fastening  the  ends  of  a  piece  of 
mosquito  net,  three  or  four  yards  long,  to  two  four-foot  poles. 
If  one  boy  takes  one  pole  and  another  boy  the  other  and  then 
hold  them  vertically  in  the  water  so  that  one  edge  of  the  netting 
reaches  to  the  bottom  and  the  other  is  at  or  above  the  surface, 
and  if  the  two  walk  along  the  opposite  margins  of  a  stream  or 
pond  many  fish  may  be  captured  for  observation.  They  should 
be  transferred  at  once  to  a  good-sized  pail  with  three  or  four 
inches  of  water  in  the  bottom.  In  some  states  fishing  with  such 
a  net  is  illegal  at  some  times  of  the  year.  The  state  fish 
commission  or  the  biological  survey  connected  with  the  state 
university  can  inform  you  in  regard  to  such  laws.  The  fish 
commission,  if  such  exists  in  the  state,  is  usually  very  willing 
to  send  fish  and  their  eggs  to  any  school  that  will  make  good 
use  of  the  material. 

Sanitary  care. — It  is  imperative  that  every  animal  house f 
whether  dog  kennel,  rabbit  hutch,  chicken  coop,  canary  cage,  or 


200       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

pigsty,  be  kept  scrupulously  clean,  not  alone  for  the  comfort  of 
the  animal,  but  because  these  animal  companions  of  ours  are  a 
grave  source  of  danger  when  diseased.  They  are  the  hosts  of 
parasites  that  may  infect  man.  The  cat,  because  she  is  a  tropical 
animal  living  in  a  trying  northern  climate,  is  peculiarly  suscep- 
tible to  diphtheria  and  tuberculosis,  which  diseases,  it  has  been 
demonstrated,  she  readily  transfers  to  children.  Scrub  out  the 


FIG.  142. — The  flying  pen  for  pigeons 

kennel,  coop,  or  hutch  with  water  to  each  gallon  of  which  have 
been  added  eight  tablespoonfuls  of  creolin,  or  coat  the  inside  with 
whitewash  to  which  creolin  has  been  added  in  the  same  propor- 
tion. Let  the  house  dry  well  before  the  animals  are  replaced. 
Use  straw  for  the  bedding  or  hay  for  rabbits  and  cavies,  as  the 
hay  serves  them  for  food  also.  Renew  the  bedding  every  few 
days  and  burn  the  old  litter  to  get  rid  of  fleas.  The  cat  should 
have  her  own  box  or  bed,  and  the  mat  or  litter  on  which  she  sleeps 
should  be  kept  clean. 


ANIMAL  COMPANIONS  2OI 

Bathe  dog  or  cat  in  a  solution  of  creolin,  using  four  teaspoon- 
fuls  to  the  quart  for  the  dog  and  half  as  much  for  the  cat,  as  her 
skin  is  more  tender;  or  the  solution  may  be  rubbed  into  the  fur 
with  a  cloth  or  brush.  It  does  not  need  to  be  washed  out  as  it 
improves  the  fur  and  the  odor  keeps  away  vermin.  Powdered 
alum,  sprinkled  freely  under  rugs  and  in  cracks  and  crevices,  will 
free  the  house  of  fleas  if  pets  have  brought  them  in. 

Feeding. — The  pet  dog  is  very  likely  to  suffer  from  over- 
feeding. He  then  becomes  sluggish,  loses  his  playfulness,  and 
often  develops  skin  diseases.  Feed  a  young  dog  twice  a  day  on 
dog  biscuit  or  table  scrap,  including  plenty  of  vegetables  and 
cereals;  when  the  dog  is  full-grown  feed  him  once  a  day.  The 
puppy  needs  more  meat  than  the  full-grown  dog,  but  for  either 
it  should  be  cooked  and  should  not  make  up  more  than  a  fourth 
of  the  diet.  Rabbits  and  cavies,  kept  out  of  doors,  may  be  fed 
on  grass,  vegetables,  and  grains;  cavies  breed  best  when  given 
plenty  of  carrots;  indoors  they  should  be  fed  on  dry  foods,  like 
grains,  bread  crusts,  and  clover  hay,  so  as  to  avoid  unpleasant 
odors.  Always  keep  some  sticks  of  wood  in  the  rabbit  cage  for 
them  to  gnaw  so  that  the  cutting  teeth  are  worn  down;  otherwise 
the  mouth  may  be  propped  open  by  their  growth  so  that  the 
animal  cannot  chew.  Pigeons  thrive  on  chick  feed  (Fig.  142), 
and  both  pigeons  and  chickens  need  gravel  or  some  sort  of  grits 
and  plenty  of  green  stuff;  lawn  clippings  may  be  used  in  summer, 
sprouted  oats  in  winter.  Woodchucks  and  prairie  dogs  (Fig. 
143)  are  fed  similar  to  rabbits;  opossum  and  porcupine  take 
table  scrap.  Most  turtles  and  frogs  are  fed  insects  and  scraps  of 
meat,  like  chopped  liver  and  fish;  the  land  turtles,  such  as  the 
box  turtles,  are  vegetarians,  feeding  on  berries  and  fruits.  All 
the  cold-blooded  creatures,  especially  the  alligators  and  snakes, 
go  without  feeding  for  long  periods.  At  first  the  alligator  may 
be  disinclined  to  eat  in  captivity,  and  the  meat  must  be  poked 
down  his  throat  with  a  stick  far  enough  so  that  he  will  swallow  it; 
he  soon  becomes  willing  to  take  the  meat  without  waiting  to  be 
stuffed,  and  his  capacity  for  live  frogs  is  quite  equal  to  that  of 


202       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

snakes  after  the  winter's  fast  (Fig.  144).  Fish  in  captivity  may 
be  fed  on  the  prepared  fish  food  and  on  chopped  meat,  but  all 
that  is  not  eaten  within  an  hour  or  two  should  be  removed 
from  the  aquarium  so  that  it  will  not  foul  the  water.  Numer- 
ous small  larvae,  crustaceans,  and  plants  that  can  be  dredged 
up  out  of  pond  or  stream,  even  in  winter,  are  welcome  food  for 
the  fish. 

Wild  traits. — The  feeding  habits  of  our  common  animals  are 
replete  with  interest,  for  so  many  traits  are  reminiscent  of  their 
wild  past;  they  offer,  too,  instructive  illustrations  of  the  intimate 


FIG.  143. — Prairie  dog  in  school  animal  cage  (Gary,  Indiana) 

relation  of  structure  and  function.  Thus  puss  eats  daintily,  par- 
taking of  her  food  with  apparent  relish.  She  prefers  to  enjoy 
her  meal  by  herself  and  often  runs  off  with  the  bone  or  other 
appetizing  morsel  to  hide  under  the  stove  or  in  the  corner  while 
she  leisurely  devours  it,  sniffing  it  first  to  satisfy  her  nose  as  well 
as  her  palate.  The  dog,  on  the  contrary,  bolts  his  food  in  great 
gulps.  He  seldom  minds  onlookers,  and  other  dogs  only  hasten 
his  ravenous  efforts  to  get  his  full  share  of  the  available  food. 
The  members  of  the  great  cat  family  are  accustomed  through 
generations  of  usage  to  quietly  partake  of  the  prey  which  they 
have  hunted  alone  and  killed  in  the  solitude  of  the  forest  or 


ANIMAL  COMPANIONS  203 

jungle.  Not  so  the  dog  tribe;  they  have  hunted  in  packs,  and 
when  the  kill  was  at  last  accomplished  each  animal  seized  his  share, 
eating  amid  a  jostling  crowd  of  hungry  fellows;  each  secured  the 
choicest  morsel  possible  and  defended  it  against  all  comers;  each 
was  anxious  to  stow  as  large  a  share  as  possible  in  the  shortest 
time  in  that  one  spot  secure  from  the  claims  of  disputants. 

Both  dog  and  cat  use  their  sharp  claws  to  hold  the  bone  while 
gnawing  off  the  meat  and  both  use  their  back  teeth  in  the  process. 
The  front  teeth,  the  incisors,  are  small  and  weak,  as  may  be 


FIG.  144. — A  pet  blue  racer 

readily  seen;  our  own  are  well  developed,  and  in  biting  corn  off 
the  cob,  for  instance,  we  use  them  to  advantage.  The  dog  and 
cat  must  get  the  bone  around  at  the  side  of  the  mouth  so  as  to 
bring  into  play  the  sharp-edged,  strong,  back  teeth.  Our 
corresponding  teeth  are  flat-topped  and  are  used  for  grinding  the 
food.  Dogs  and  cats  have  no  such  grinders  and  their  food  is 
eaten  with  little  chewing.  Such  animals  feed  naturally  on  meat. 
The  cat's  rough  tongue  serves  to  rasp  off  shreds  of  meat  that  stick 
to  the  bone.  The  lion's  tongue  is  so  rough  with  its  horny  points 
that  a  single  lick  draws  blood.  The  dog  usually  crunches  the 
bone  and  swallows  the  bits  instead  of  cleaning  it. 


204       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

The  squirrels,  rabbits,  guinea-pigs,  and  white  rats  all  belong 
to  a  group  of  animals  known  as  the  rodents,  or  gnawers,  because 
their  front  teeth,  the  incisors  or  scissor  teeth,  are  so  strong  and 
sharp  that  they  gnaw  their  way  into  the  pantry,  the  granary,  or 
other  storeroom  of  man's  food  and  help  themselves.  The  chisel- 
like  teeth  quickly  cut  into  the  food,  shaving  it  so  that  the  flat- 
topped  back  teeth  can  grind  it  readily.  The  squirrel  (Fig.  145) 


FIG.  145. — The  chipmunk  eating 

leaves  his  tooth  marks  on  the  nutshell,  the  rat's  are  visible  on  the 
cheese  or  the  woodwork  about  his  hole,  but  the  rodent  that  leaves 
his  trade-mark  most  plainly  on  his  work  is  the  beaver  (Fig.  147). 
I  have  watched  him  cut  down  an  eight-inch  poplar  in  twenty 
minutes,  biting  into  the  wood  so  as  to  take  out  chips  in  a  ring 
around  the  tree  and  continuing  the  process  until  the  tree  toppled 
over.  Beavers  fell  birches  a  foot  and  a  half  in  diameter,  and 
birch  is  by  no  means  a  soft  wood ;  poplars  three  feet  in  diameter 


ANIMAL  COMPANIONS 


205 


are  none  too  large  for  them  to  cut.  He  is  a  close  relative  of  our 
common  muskrat  (Fig.  148),  whose  houses  are  so  common  on 
the  margins  of  reedy  ponds  and  swales. 

Certain  of  our  foreign  critics  think  it  is  not  without  reason 
that  we  have  put  the  bison,  a  cud-chewing  animal,  on  our  coins 
as  a  national  emblem.  We  thus  recognize,  in  a  measure  at  least, 
man's  great  debt  to  this  group  of  animals,  including  the  cow, 


FIG.  146. — A  doe  in  the  forest  home 

sheep,  goat,  camel,  llama,  etc.,  that  have  been  among  the  most 
valuable  of  man's  animal  allies.  These  beasts  feed  largely  on 
grass  and  tender  shoots,  which  they  crop  of!  in  leisurely  fashion, 
swallowing  the  food  at  once  into  a  temporary  stomach  from 
whence  it  is  later  brought  back  to  the  mouth  to  be  thoroughly 
chewed  and  swallowed  a  second  time,  going  then  to  the  digesting 
stomach.  The  advantage  of  this  type  of  feeding  is  apparent. 
Deer,  for  instance  (Fig.  146),  may  go  out  to  feed  in  the  early 


206       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

morning  or  in  the  evening  twilight  into  the  grassy  glades  of  the 
forest,  where  they  quickly  gather  a  stomach  full  and  then  go  back 
into  the  recesses  of  the  forest  to  chew  their  provender  in  com- 
parative security.  Thus  cattle  feed  in  the  open  and  then  go 
into  the  shadow  or  stand  belly  deep  in  the  stream  while  chewing 
their  cud. 

The  cow  has  no  incisors  on  the  upper  jaw.  The  grass  is  held 
against  the  sharp  edges  of  the  lower  teeth  by  the  pressure  of  the 
callous  gums,  and  then  as  the  head  swings  up  it  is  torn  off. 


FIG.  147. — Skull  of  a  beaver  and  the  tree  he  cuts 

Sheep  and  goats  have  a  similar  arrangement  of  teeth  and  the 
same  upward  swing  of  the  head  in  feeding.  The  peculiar  noise 
made  as  the  grass  is  torn  off  is  quite  characteristic  of  the  browsing 
herd. 

The  domestic  birds,  such  as  chickens,  turkeys,  peahens,  and 
others,  like  their  wild  relations,  are  largely  grain  or  seed  eaters. 
The  heavy  bill  for  picking  up  food  and  the  strong  feet  that  enable 
the  animal  to  scratch  in  the  soil  to  disclose  the  hidden  kernels 
are  well  adapted  to  the  services  they  perform.  Since  these 
animals  do  not  chew  their  food  they  swallow  pebbles  and  bits  of 
stone  that  help  to  grind  up  the  food  in  the  muscular  gizzard. 


ANIMAL  COMPANIONS  207 

The  crop  serves  as  a  temporary  stomach  to  hold  the  grain  waiting 
to  go  to  mill  in  the  gizzard. 

Drinking. — Almost  every  child  has  watched  the  cat  or  dog 
drink  and  then  has  tried  to  curl  his  own  tongue  up  into  a  ladle  to 
dip  up  the  water  only  to  find  that  in  more  ways  than  one  the 
tongue  is  an  unruly  member.  At  first  it  seems  quite  a  marvelous 
thing  that  a  horse  is  able  to  put  its  mouth  in  the  water  and  pump 
up  a  satisfying  drink  through  its  long  throat.  Yet  we  often 
kneel  beside  the  spring  and  drink  in  a  similar  manner.  When 
once  the  water  has  passed  from  the  mouth  into  the  throat  the 


FIG.  148. — A  tame  muskrat  (photograph  by  E.  A.  Lewis) 

ring  muscles  of  the  esophagus  push  it  along,  by  their  contractions, 
to  the  stomach  quite  as  well  uphill  as  down.  The  trapeze  trick 
of  the  circus  performer  who  while  hanging  head  down  drinks  a 
glass  of  water  is  difficult  only  in  its  initial  stage;  it  requires 
practice  to  pour  water  into  your  mouth  under  such  conditions 
without  getting  it  into  your  nose,  but  when  once  it  is  swallowed 
the  rest  of  the  process  is  automatic. 

Cleanliness. — There  is  a  great  contrast  in  the  relative  fondness 
of  the  cat  and  dog  for  water.  The  dog  loves  his  swim  quite  as 
well  as  does  the  small  boy,  but  puss  has  an  instinctive  aversion 
to  the  bath.  This  is  true  of  the  whole  family  of  cats.  Even  the 


208       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

fishing  cat  refuses  to  get  more  than  her  paws  wet  in  her  efforts  to 
secure  her  food.  The  cat's  tongue  is  wash  rag,  brush,  and  comb 
all  in  one.  The  recurved  horny  points  upon  it  that  make  it  feel 
so  rough  when  she  licks  your  hand  serve  to  get  out  the  dirt  from 
the  fur,  and  the  cat's  coat  always  looks  sleek  and  clean.  Indeed 
all  our  domestic  animals  are  instinctively  clean.  The  horse  and 
cow  submit  gratefully  to  brush  and  comb  and  evidently  enjoy 
these  appurtenances  of  civilization,  as  do  also  dog,  cat,  goat,  and 
rabbit.  Chickens  and  pigeons  go  over  their  feathers  with  their 
bills,  removing  dirt  and  oiling  them  thoroughly  so  that  they  are 
waterproof.  Even  the  pig,  usually  regarded  as  the  dirtiest  of  all 
our  animal  allies,  is  naturally  cleanly.  Poor  piggy  has  little  hair 
on  his  skin  to  save  him  from  the  bites  of  annoying  insects,  so  that 
he  delights  to  coat  himself  with  a  layer  of  protecting  mud.  But 
in  the  wild  his  lair  is  always  clean,  he  is  choice  of  his  food,  and  if 
given  a  clean  sty  and  clean  water  while  in  confinement  he  will 
keep  himself  as  clean  as  any  of  the  more  respected  domestic 
animals. 

Protection. — Animals  in  the  wild,  exposed  to  cold,  to  winds, 
to  rain,  and  to  all  the  other  inclemencies  of  the  weather,  subject  to 
shortage  of  food  or  continued  drought,  living  in  all  sorts  of  danger 
from  their  many  enemies,  must  needs  be  protected,  else  they 
would  die  off  entirely  and  leave  none  of  their  kind  upon  the  earth. 
Indeed,  that  ruthless  elimination  of  the  unfit  has  happened  over 
and  over  again,  and  the  old  rocks  contain  the  fossil  records  of 
hundreds  of  species  that  have  become  extinct.  Within  the 
memory  of  the  present  generation  half  a  dozen  animals  have 
disappeared  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  Our  domestic  animals 
have  many  structures  and  types  of  behavior  that  are  reminiscent 
of  their  wild  ancestors  and  that  once  were  essential  to  their 
survival,  although  now  man's  care  renders  them  more  or  less 
unnecessary.  The  cat  and  dog  are  still  quite  able  to  protect 
themselves  with  tooth  and  nail,  the  cow's  horns  are  still  to  be 
respected,  the  goat  is  notorious  for  his  vigorous  butt,  the  horse 
sometimes  bites  and  his  kick  is  to  be  feared,  and  even  the  appa- 


ANIMAL  COMPANIONS  209 

rently  inoffensive  bunny  occasionally  displays  his  ability  to  care 
tor  himself.  One  night  a  prowling  cat  forced  his  way  into  the 
rabbit  cage,  and  in  the  morning  I  found  the  poor  cat  dead,  his  hide 
torn  to  shreds  by  the  kicks  of  the  buck's  hind  feet,  that  are  armed 
with  claws  that  are  terribly  effective. 

Horses  and  cattle,  sheep  and  goats,  run  naturally  in  herds  in 
the  pastures,  just  as  their  wild  relations  still  do  on  the  ranges. 
One  cow  or  horse  or  sheep  is  no  match  for  a  bunch  of  worrying 
dogs  and  it  usually  takes  refuge  in  flight,  just  as  the  wild 
relation  did  when  the  pack  of  wolves  attacked  it.  But  when 
the  herd  is  together  even  the  wolves  respect  the  circle  of  lowered 
horned  heads  or  the  hard  hoofs.  When  a  dog  runs  after  a  cow 
down  the  village  street  his  yelps  stir  up  ancestral  memories  in  all 
the  dogs  within  earshot  and  they  join  the  chase,  while  the  cow 
with  tail  up,  wild-eyed,  runs  for  her  life  to  shelter  or  makes  her 
way  to  the  protecting  herd. 

Usually  the  males  are  best  provided  with  weapons  of  offense 
and  means  of  defense.  Thus  the  ram  wears  the  horns,  the  stag 
has  the  great  antlers,  the  boar  the  tusks,  and  the  rooster  the  spurs, 
while  the  manes  of  the  lion,  the  bison,  and  the  stallion  serve  to 
protect  the  most  vulnerable  parts  in  the  fierce  encounters.  The 
male  uses  his  tremendous  strength  in  protecting  the  females  and 
the  young,  often  giving  his  life  in  defense  of  his  herd.  The 
natural  pugnacity  of  the  boy  is  an  instinct  that  is  common  to 
males  of  his  animal  forbears,  an  instinct  that  needs  not  repression 
but  its  proper  expression;  it  may  well  be  directed  along  the 
channels  indicated  by  the  animal  allies,  the  protection  of  the 
weak  of  the  species.  The  world  is  always  in  need  of  good 
fighters. 

These  animal  companions  of  ours  have  numerous  structures 
and  habits  that  protect  them  from  the  fury  of  the  elements. 
Their  fur  (Fig.  1 50)  and  feather  coats  are  impervious  to  cold  and 
rain.  The  thin  summer  pelage  is  exchanged  for  a  thicker  one  in 
the  fall,  and  this  in  turn  is  shed  and  a  new  summer  coat  is  grown. 
So  effective  are  these  coats  of  fur  and  feathers  that  many  of  the 


210       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

wild  animals  have  been  well-nigh  exterminated  in  furnishing  them 
to  covetous  man.  The  records  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company 
are  almost  unbelievable.  The  annals  of  those  bold  fur  traders 
furnish  also  some  of  the  most  exciting  tales  of  adventure  found 
in  all  our  literature,  stories  that  in  their  portrayal  of  truth 
outrival  the  imaginative  flights  of  the  narrator  of  fiction. 

Wintering. — Many  of  the  animals,  particularly  the  birds  and 
some  insects,  like  the  monarch  butterfly,  escape  the  cold  of  winter 
by  their  migration  southward.  Even  more  marvelous  seems 
the  hibernating  instinct  whereby  the  animal,  fed  to  repletion  in 


FIG.  149. — Muskrat  houses  on  a  snow-covered  swamp 

the  autumn,  crawls  into  his  den  and  passes  the  winter  in  a  stupor. 
Our  squirrels  hibernate  by  spells,  coming  out  on  the  warm  days 
to  bask  in  the  sun  and  feed  on  the  stores  of  nuts,  returning  again 
to  the  nest  hole  to  spend  the  very  cold  days. 

The  changes  that  go  on  in  the  warm-blooded  animals  at  the 
time  of  hibernation  are  very  wonderful.  The  gopher  has  a 
summer  body  temperature  of  105° ;  in  winter  it  is  58° ;  his  summer 
respiration  is  fifty  per  minute,  his  pulse  two  hundred,  but  in 
winter  his  respiration  is  imperceptible  and  his  pulse  only  four. 
In  winter  his  leg  may  be  cut  off  with  the  loss  of  only  a  few  drops 
of  blood,  which  is  so  altered  that  it  scarcely  flows  at  all. 


ANIMAL  COMPANIONS  211 

Winter  spreads  far  but  goes  not  deep;  down  only  about  four  feet;  and 
Woodchuck,  if  he  can  not  escape  overland,  can,  perhaps,  underland.  So 
down  he  goes  through  the  winter,  down  into  a  mild  and  even  temperature, 
five  long  feet  away — but  as  far  away  from  the  snow  and  cold  as  bobolink 
among  the  reeds  of  the  distant  Orinoco. 

Indeed,  Woodchuck's  is  a  farther  journey  and  even  more  wonderful  than 
Bobolink's,  for  these  five  feet  carry  him  beyond  the  bounds  of  time  and  space 
into  the  mysterious  realm  of  sleep,  of  suspended  life,  to  the  very  gates  of 
death.  That  he  will  return  with  Bobolink,  that  he  will  come  up  alive  with 
the  spring  out  of  this  dark  way,  is  very  strange,  for  he  went  in  most  meagerly 
prepared.  He  took  nothing  with  him  apparently.  The  muskrat  built  him 
a  house  and  under  the  spreading  ice  turned  all  the  meadow  into  a  well- 
stocked  cellar.  The  beaver  built  a  dam,  cut  and  anchored  under  water  a 
plenty  of  green  sticks  near  his  lodge  so  that  he,  too,  would  be  under  water 
when  ice  formed,  and  have  an  abundance  of  tender  bark  at  hand.  Chip- 
munk spent  half  his  summer  laying  up  food  near  his  underground  nest. 
But  Woodchuck  simply  digged  him  a  hole,  a  grave,  then  ate  until  no  particle 
more  of  fat  could  be  got  into  his  baggy  hide,  and  then  crawled  into  his  tomb, 
gave  up  the  ghost  and  waited  the  resurrection  of  the  spring  [Dallas  Lore 
Sharp,  Wild  Life  Near  Home]. 

Coat  color  that  harmonizes  with  the  environment  is  a  very 
common  means  of  protection  still  seen  in  many  of  our  familiar 
animals,  although  in  many  cases  the  breeder  has  altered  the 
natural  color  of  fur  or  feathers  to  suit  man's  fancy.  The  red 
squirrel  is  found  largely  among  the  pines,  whose  reddish  trunks 
render  him  inconspicuous  as  he  climbs  to  feed  on  the  seeds  of 
the  cones,  while  the  gray  squirrel  inhabits  the  forests  in  which 
the  nut  trees  have  grayish  bark.  It  takes  a  sharp  eye  to  see  the 
gopher  as  he  stands  on  the  lookout  in  the  field,  for  his  coat 
closely  matches  the  ground  and  dried  grasses.  The  color  of  the 
dog's  fur  is  very  variable  through  man's  selection,  but  when  the 
dog  reverts  to  his  wild  condition,  as  shipwrecked  specimens  have 
on  lonely  islands,  he  resumes  in  a  few  generations  the  tawny  coat 
of  his  wild  forebears.  I  have  spent  months  in  the  forests  where 
wolf  tracks  were  as  common  as  dog  tracks  about  a  village  and 
have  seen  wolves  only  twice.  The  color  of  the  dog's  eye,  un- 
changed by  man's  selection,  as  it  is  a  matter  of  no  importance 
in  the  various  breeds,  is  still  brown,  as  it  is  in  practically  all  the 


212        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

wild  mammals.  The  colt  frequently  displays  the  stripes  so 
characteristic  of  the  zebra  that  harmonize  so  well  with  the 
alternate  bands  of  light  and  shade  among  the  tall  grasses  and 
reeds  where  it  feeds.  The  wild  rabbit,  it  is  well  known,  changes 
in  the  autumn  from  the  brown  coat  color  that  matches  the  dead 
leaves  of  the  forest  floor  to  white,  so  that  he  is  inconspicuous  in 
the  snow.  The  arctic  foxes  make  a  similar  change,  as  do  some 
of  the  birds,  like  the  ptarmigan. 

Some  animals,  well  able  to  care  for  themselves,  match  the 
color  of  their  environment  not  so  much  to  gain  protection  as  to 
be  able  to  creep  up  on  their  unsuspecting  prey  and  capture  it. 
Thus  the  polar  bear,  large  as  he  is,  is  relatively  inconspicuous  in 
his  white  coat  on  the  snow  fields.  The  cat  gliding  stealthily 
through  the  shrubbery  is  scarcely  seen  by  the  bird  until  she  is 
within  pouncing  distance.  So  the  lion  matches  well  the  sandy, 
rocky  wilds  he  inhabits,  and  the  tiger,  living  in  the  reeds  and 
rushes  along  the  watercourses,  is  striped  vertically  in  black  and 
yellow  like  alternate  gleams  of  sunshine  and  shadow.  The  great 
cats  that  live  in  the  forests  are  mottled  like  the  checkered  pattern 
of  the  sunlight  filtering  through  the  leafy  screen  on  the  forest 
floor. 

Keen  senses  play  a  very  important  part  in  the  animal's 
protection.  That  animal  escapes  destruction  whose  sharp  eyes, 
sensitive  nose,  or  alert  ears  inform  it  of  danger  while  it  is  yet  a 
long  way  off.  Thus  hunting  comes  to  be  a  fine  art;  the  novice 
may  go  into  the  woods  or  out  on  the  prairies  where  game  is 
abundant  and  yet  see  nothing  but  tracks  and  tantalizing  traces 
of  the  numerous  wild  things  that  are  constantly  eluding  him. 
Horses,  cattle,,  and  rabbits  have  large,  funnel-shaped  ears  that 
can  be  moved  like  ear  trumpets  to  pick  up  the  sound  from  any 
direction  and  so  locate  the  source  of  danger.  How  promptly 
the  dog  pricks  up  his  ears  at  the  least  sound.  Occasionally  a 
boy  will  be  found  who  can  move  his  ears  a  bit,  and  all  of  us  have 
the  rudimentary  muscles  still  attached  to  the  ears  that  are  the 
counterparts  of  the  ones  the  animals  use  to  prick  up  their  ears. 


ANIMAL  COMPANIONS  213 

The  cat's  eyes  are  particularly  efficient  in  the  dim  light;  many 
of  the  great  cats  hunt  in  the  partial  gloom  of  the  forests  and  most 
of  them  are  night  prowlers.  The  long  whiskers  of  the  cat,  rat, 
and  rabbit  are  sensitive  hairs  that  enable  such  animals  to  follow 
the  devious  paths  of  the  forest  or  to  go  along  underground 
passageways  without  bumping  into  things  at  every  turn,  for 
they  feel  readily  what  they  cannot  see  in  the  indistinct  light. 

The  dog,  rabbit,  cow,  and  pig  have  a  keen  sense  of  smell. 
Man  takes  advantage  of  this  when  he  uses  the  dog  as  a  hunter. 
Pigs  have  been  trained  to  serve  the  same  purpose.  Indeed,  the 
pig's  nose  is  a  wonderful  combination,  a  keen  organ  of  smell, 
an  extremely  sensitive  organ  of  touch,  and  yet  so  tough  that  it 
roots  in  hard  ground,  even  among  stones,  without  wearing  out. 
Some  dogs  are  famous  trackers,  particularly  those  with  the  long 
snout  that  gives  plenty  of  room  for  a  large  area  of  sensitive 
olfactory  membrane.  It  is  said  that  the  American  Indian,  in 
the  early  days,  tracked  his  foe  or  the  animal  he  hunted  quite  as 
much  by  his  nose  as  by  his  eye  and  that  this  is  still  true  of  some 
savages.  Civilization  seems  to  have  deadened  our  sense  of  smell 
so  that  we  make  very  little  use  of  it. 

Smell  is  closely  akin  to  taste.  One  can  only  taste  substances 
that  are  in  solution.  This  can  readily  be  noted  by  wiping  the 
surface  of  the  tongue  dry  and  then  sprinkling  on  the  tip  a  pinch 
of  either  salt  or  sugar;  it  is  only  tasted  when  the  saliva  has  had 
time  to  run  down  and  dissolve  it.  Thus  things  are  smelled  also 
only  when  the  gases  given  off  by  the  odoriferous  substance  are 
dissolved  in  the  moisture  of  the  nose  membranes.  Animals  with 
a  keen  sense  of  smell  always  have  moist  noses  and  also  cold  noses, 
for  the  moist  surface  is  constantly  losing  heat  by  evaporation 
and  is  cooler  than  its  surroundings.  If  a  "drop  of  rapidly  evap- 
orating liquid,  like  ether  or  gasoline,  is  placed  on  the  hand  the 
spot  feels  perceptibly  cooler  as  the  liquid  disappears. 

Structure. — These  animal  companions  of  ours  furnish  many 
examples  of  the  nice  adjustment  of  structure  to  function  (Fig. 
1 50) .  In  the  first  place  they  are  all  built  on  the  same  general 


214       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

plan — all  are  vertebrates.  The  backbone  may  readily  be  felt  on 
horse  or  cow  or  dog,  running  from  the  base  of  the  skull  to  the  tip  of 
the  tail  and  attaching  solidly  at  shoulders  and  hips  to  the  heavy 
bones  that  connect  with  the  legs.  Bleached  skeletons  of  mammals 
that  have  lain  out  of  doors  for  some  time  may  often  be  found  and 
will  show  how  well  the  skeleton  provides  the  body  with  a  strong 
framework  and  at  the  same  time  allows  ample  freedom  of  motion. 


FIG.  150. — The  sheep  pen 

Limbs  are  all  built  on  the  same  plan,  whether  it  be  the  arm 
of  a  man,  the  foreleg  of  a  dog,  the  wing  of  a  chicken,  or  the  fin  of 
a  fish.  It  seems  quite  marvelous  that  there  should  be  this 
fundamental  unity  in  organs  that  have  such  varied  functions. 
Yet  the  parts  are  in  each  case  modified  so  as  to  be  nicely  adjusted 
to  the  particular  function  to  be  accomplished.  It  is  a  simple 
matter  to  compare  the  foreleg  of  the  dog  or  horse  with  our  own 
forearm  and  note  that  there  are  the  same  long  bones,  similarly 
placed  and  related  to  the  joints  in  a  similar  way.  In  the  wing 


ANIMAL  COMPANIONS  215 

of  the  bird  some  of  the  parts  are  reduced,  and  yet  it  is  evident  on 
inspection  that  the  wing  is  simply  the  foreleg  with  the  parts 
altered  to  suit  the  new  purpose  that  is  to  be  served.  The  dog's 
or  the  cat's  paw  is  equivalent  to  our  hand.  The  bones  occur  in 
the  same  order,  are  in  the  same  relation  to  the  joints,  and  are  in 
fact  identical  in  every  way,  except  that  the  thumb  is  much 
shortened  and  is  withdrawn  up  the  leg  so  as  to  be  lifted  from  the 
ground.  Our  fingers  move  much  more  freely  and  are  much  more 
skilful,  yet  our  toes  have  no  corresponding  cunning.  Probably 
no  small  part  of  man's  advance  in  civilization  is  due  to  the 
gradually  changing  structure  of  the  forefoot  that  allows  him  to 
move  his  fingers  independently  and  to  oppose  the  thumb  to  them 
so  that  objects  can  be  handled. 

In  the  hog  and  cow  not  only  the  thumb  or  great  toe  has 
disappeared,  but  the  index  and  little  fingers  have  become  much 
reduced  and  are  visible  only  as  rudiments.  So  the  animal  is 
apparently  two-toed  and  walks,  not  as  we  do  or  as  bears  do,  on 
the  flat  of  the  foot,  but  on  the  tips  of  the  toes.  The  toe  and  finger 
nails  have  developed  into  hoofs  to  bear  this  added  burden.  In 
the  horse  all  the  toes  have  disappeared  except  the  middle  one 
and  two  other  rudimentary  ones  that  we  call  the  splints.  The 
horse  walks  on  the  nail  of  his  middle  toe.  The  fossils  contained 
in  the  ancient  rocks  indicate  that  the  horse  originated  as  a  small 
animal,  about  the  size  of  an  ordinary  dog,  and  that  it  lived  on 
very  soft  and  swampy  land.  The  foot  then  had  five  spreading 
toes  that  enabled  it  to  travel  over  such  miry  ground  successfully; 
later  on  its  habits  changed  and  contemporaneously  its  structure. 
Other  species  appeared  in  place  of  the  original  one,  and  these 
were  gradually  larger,  longer  of  limb,  with  a  foot  that  through 
long  ages  was  reduced  to  a  single  toe,  as  we  find  it  in  the  horse  of 
today.  Now  it  is  an  animal  that  lives  on  the  hard  dry  ground 
of  the  steppes  and  pampas  and  depends  on  its  speed  of  limb  for 
safety. 

Comparing  the  leg  of  the  horse  with  your  own  you  will  be 
surprised  to  find  that  what  you  at  first  take  for  its  knee  joint  is 


2i6       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

really  the  ankle  and  that  the  bones  of  the  foot  have  greatly 
elongated  to  help  make  the  horse's  leg  a  long  one.  Such  elonga- 
tion of  bones  to  produce  long  legs  is  a  distinct  advantage  in  the 
increased  speed  produced.  A  long,  straight  leg  easily  swings 
forward,  like  a  pendulum,  for  a  long  stride,  while  a  doubled-up 
leg,  like  the  hind  leg  of  cat  or  rabbit,  makes  leaping  easy,  but  is 
not  efficient  for  prolonged  and  speedy  running. 

This  admirable  relation  of  structure  to  function  is  seen  again 
in  the  skulls  of  these  various  animals.  Thus  the  squirrel  and  the 
bulldog  have  spherical  heads,  while  the  hound  and  the  pig  have 
elongate  heads.  The  squirrel  uses  his  front  teeth  to  gnaw  with, 
while  the  hound  crushes  the  bone  with  his  back  teeth,  for  he  needs 
the  long  snout  for  his  keen  nose  that  demands  extensive  smelling 
area.  In  biting,  the  resistance  of  the  nutshell  is  the  weight,  the 
end  of  the  jaw  that  hinges  to  the  skull  is  the  fulcrum  of  the  lever, 
and  the  power  is  applied  where  the  great  muscles,  felt  swelling 
on  the  cheeks  when  you  bite,  attach  to  the  jawbone.  This 
attachment  is  relatively  close  to  the  fulcrum  so  that  the  power 
arm  is  short.  The  longer  the  jaw  the  longer  the  weight  arm  and 
therefore  the  less  the  force  of  the  bite. 

Distribution. — The  wild  relations  of  these  animal  compan- 
ions may  well  be  used  to  illustrate  the  laws  of  animal  distribution. 
If  one  looks  up  in  encyclopedias  or  in  natural  histories  the  natural 
habitats  of  such  great  cats  as  bay  cat,  fishing  cat,  cheetah,  jaguar, 
lynx,  lion,  manuel,  ocelot,  ounce,  panther,  puma,  rusty  cat,  serval, 
tiger,  wildcat,  and  yaguarandi,  and  indicates  the  range  of  each  on 
a  map  of  the  world,  it  will  be  apparent  that  most  of  them  are 
confined  to  the  tropics  and  that  Southern  Asia  is  the  home  of  a 
very  large  proportion.  Apparently  this  is  the  original  home  of 
the  great  cat  family,  and  from  this  center  they  have  spread 
into  other  parts  of  the  earth,  except  as  they  have  been  kept  out 
by  impassible  barriers.  Such  localities  as  Australia  and  New 
Zealand,  that  have  been  separated  from  the  mainland  for  a  very 
long  time,  have  no  cat  inhabitants.  Cats  have  been  largely  shut 
out  of  Northern  Eurasia  by  the  great  mountain  chains  to  the 


ANIMAL  COMPANIONS  217 

north  of  their  original  home  and  by  the  cold  climate  which  acts 
as  a  barrier  in  Northern,  North  America  and  Southern  South 
America.  The  cats  are  primarily  tropical  animals  and,  like  our 
domestic  pussy,  do  not  take  kindly  to  the  cold.  Puss  goes  out 
in  the  winter  only  with  protest  and  then  treads  the  snowy  paths 
gingerly.  The  lynx  is  the  only  one  of  the  great  cats  that  has 
learned  to  live  in  the  higher  latitudes.  Several  of  them  are  found 
in  Central  America,  whither  they  must  have  migrated  over  some 
tropical  continental  area  now  obliterated,  or  else  by  way  of  the 
Behring  Strait  country  when  it  was  enjoying  a  warmer  climate 
and  Eurasia  was  continuous  with  North  America. 

Animal  projects. — The  commonplace  animals  of  the  home  are 
not  alone  interesting  in  the  problems  that  their  curious  habits 
suggest  or  because  of  nice  structural  adjustment  to  their  environ- 
ment and  to  their  methods  of  winning  a  livelihood,  but  they  may 
also  afford  an  opportunity  for  worth-while  projects.  For  the 
seventh-  or  eighth-grade  boy  or  girl  to  make  money  by  raising 
squabs;  to  maintain  a  commercially  practicable  chicken  coop; 
to  raise  hogs  or  beef  for  profit ;  to  successfully  breed  angora  cats ; 
to  be  a  scientific  butter  producer,  will  in  any  case  insure  careful 
observation,  accurate  reasoning  on  the  basis  of  facts  learned,  and 
research  and  good  judgment  under  conditions  that  duplicate 
those  under  which  the  problems  of  real  life  must  be  solved. 
Moreover,  such  projects  will  insure  reading  to  a  purpose,  drill  in 
letter-writing,  composition,  arithmetic,  and  bookkeeping,  such 
as  cannot  be  achieved  under  the  artificial  stimulus  usually  applied 
in  the  schoolroom.  Directions  cannot  be  given  in  limited  space 
for  the  conduct  of  many  such  projects,  but  instructions  for  many 
such  undertakings  will  be  found  in  the  books  and  pamphlets 
listed  at  the  end  of  the  chapter.  Two  typical  projects  may  be 
discussed  here,  one  for  the  school  and  one  for  the  home — the 
chicken  yard  and  the  care  of  the  dairy  cow. 

Chickens. — There  are  four  distinct  types  of  chickens:  (i) 
fancy  birds,  kept  for  their  elegant  plumage,  such  as  the  Japanese 
long-tailed  fowls  whose  tail  feathers  are  sometimes  twenty  feet 


218       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

long;  (2)  egg  producers;  (3)  meat  producers,  and  (4)  general 
utility  fowls,  those  that  lay  well  and  still  are  heavy  enough  to 
give  a  good  weight  of  fine-flavored  meat. 

The  Leghorns  and  the  Minorcas  are  familiar  types  of  the  egg 
producers.  Such  fowls  are  neat,  trim,  with  spare  though  long 
and  deep  bodies  and  rather  long  legs.  They  are  active,  rather 
nervous  and  easily  frightened,  and  sensitive  to  cold.  They  lay 
well  but  set  poorly.  Brahmas,  Cochins,  and  Langshans  are  good 
types  of  meat-producing  fowls.  They  are  heavy  and  are 


FIG.  151. — Rapid  sketches  of  parts  and  poses  of  chicken  and  one  more  complete 
study. 

compactly  built,  with  short  neck,  full  body,  and  short  legs. 
They  are  phlegmatic,  relatively  inactive,  thickly  feathered  so 
that  they  stand  cold  well,  incessant  setters  but  poor  layers.  The 
Orpingtons,  Plymouth  Rocks,  Rhode  Island  Reds  (Fig.  152),  and 
Wyandottes  are  well-known  breeds  of  the  general  utility  type. 
For  the  novice  some  of  these  fowls  make  the  best  stock.  In 
purchasing  stock  buy  from  a  good  utility  strain  rather  than  from 
show  stock. 

The  henhouse.— There  are  two  types  of  chicken  house — the 
portable  colony  house  and  the  stationary  flock  house.     The 


ANIMAL  COMPANIONS  219 

colony  house  is  large  enough  to  accommodate  about  twenty 
chickens,  while  the  stationary  house  (Fig.  153)  may  have  room 
for  hundreds.  The  portable  house  is  built  on  runners,  so  that  it 
can  be  moved  from  one  location  to  another,  into  the  orchard  for 
shade  in  summer  or  out  to  the  grainfield  after  harvest  so  that  the 
chickens  may  feed  on  the  gleanings.  The  small  portable  house 
is  advantageous  in  that  chickens  in  small  colonies  lay  better  and 
are  freer  from  disease;  the  large  house  has  the  advantage  that 
the  labor  of  caring  for  many  chickens  is  reduced  if  they  are  all 
together  near  supplies. 


FIG.  152. — Rhode  Island  Red  rooster  and  boy  caretakers 

The  house  should  be  located  on  dry,  well-drained  land,  pref- 
erably with  a  southern  slope.  If  the  site  is  sheltered  to  the 
north  and  west  by  a  house,  barn,  or  group  of  trees,  egg  production 
may  be  maintained  during  the  winter  when  prices  are  highest. 
The  house  is  built  with  three  sides  closed;  the  fourth  has  windows 
facing  south. 

Poultrymen  are  agreed  that  the  house  should  be  large  enough 
to  give  each  hen  three  to  four  feet  of  floor  space.  This  is  espe- 
cially necessary  in  the  North,  where  hens  are  kept  indoors  by  the 
inclement  winter  weather.  The  roof  need  only  be  high  enough 
to  make  it  possible  for  the  caretaker  to  enter  and  move  around 


220       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

so  as  to  keep  the  place  clean.  The  house  must  have  these 
essentials:  plenty  of  fresh  air,  sunlight,  freedom  from  dampness 
and  drafts,  and  cleanliness.  A  cement  floor  is  advisable  for  the 
stationary  coop,  for  it  is  cleanly  and  helps  exclude  rats.  The 
movable  coop  can  be  taken  to  new  ground  when  the  dirt  floor  of 
the  old  location  becomes  foul.  Mix  crushed  stone  or  gravel  with 
cement,  six  parts  of  the  former  to  one  of  the  latter,  by  repeatedly 
shoveling  the  two,  thrown  together  on  some  hard  level  spot  of 
earth  or  on  a  sheet  of  galvanized  iron.  Wet  this  and  shovel  it 
over  twice  more.  Fill  the  base  of  the  coop  with  this  and  while 
it  is  still  wet  cover  it  with  a  half-inch  layer  of  sand  and  cement 
mixed  four  to  one  and  wet  with  water  in  the  same  way,  to  the 
consistency  of  thick  cream.  Smooth  this  off  with  the  flat  of  the 
shovel  or,  better  still,  with  the  mason's  tool  made  for  the  purpose. 

The  window,  which  may  also  serve  as  door,  should  run  from 
just  below  the  roof  to  the  floor  so  that  the  sunshine  will  strike 
all  parts  of  the  coop  during  the  day,  as  sunshine  is  a  very  efficient 
germicide.  On  this  same  south  side  make  a  long  narrow  opening, 
high  up  from  jthe  floor,  and  fit  it  with  a  hinged  frame  covered  with 
heavy  cheesecloth.  This  is  kept  raised  by  day  but  lowered  by 
night,  so  that  while  fresh  air  may  be  abundantly  admitted  all 
drafts  are  excluded.  The  walls  and  roof  should  be  built  of 
matched  lumber  or  else  should  be  covered  with  building  paper, 
and  in  cold  climates  should  be  covered  also  with  shingles  or 
sheathing  so  as  to  make  the  coop  windproof . 

Inside,  the  coop  must  have  movable  perches,  a  droppings 
shelf,  nest  boxes,  and  a  dust  bath.  The  best  perch  is  a  pole,  one 
and  a  quarter  inches  in  diameter  and  octagonal  in  cross-section. 
It  should  be  supported  on  foot-high  legs  and  be  placed  on  the 
droppings  shelf  opposite  the  window.  The  droppings  shelf  is 
made  wide  enough  to  catch  all  manure  and  is  built  thirty  inches 
or  so  below  the  roof.  Keep  the  shelf  sprinkled  with  dry  earth 
and  clean  it  off  frequently.  An  earth  bin  may  be  built  in  one 
corner  of  the  coop  and  filled  in  the  fall  with  earth  for  winter  use. 
The  accumulated  manure  should  be  kept  in  covered  ash  cans  or 


ANIMAL  COMPANIONS 


221 


barrels  for  use  on  the  garden  in  the  spring.  The  dust  bath  is 
simply  a  box  constantly  supplied  with  fine  coal  ashes  in  which 
the  chickens  may  dust  themselves  as  a  preventative  of  lice. 

Trap  nests. — In  order  to  know  what  hens  are  laying  enough 
eggs  to  more  than  pay  for  their  board  trap  nests  are  needed,  and 
they  are  very  little  more  trouble  to  build  than  ordinary  nests 
(Fig.  154).  Build  a  box  12  X 15  X30  inches,  inside  measure,  and 
open  at  one  end,  or  use  an  empty  shoe  packing  box,  which  is 
about  this  size.  Halfway  between  the  ends  put  in  a  cross- 
partition  that  stands  five  inches  above  the  floor  of  the  box  and 


FIG.  153. — The  chicken  coop 

another  5Xi5~inch  strip  in  similar  position  at  the  open  end; 
the  first  serves  to  separate  nest  and  trap  and  the  latter  to  support 
the  trap  board.  This  trap  board  is  made  of  two  pieces  nine  or 
ten  inches  wide,  one  thirteen  the  other  sixteen  inches  long, 
hinged  together  at  one  end.  Hinge  the  other  end  of  the  thirteen- 
inch  piece  to  the  base  of  the  five-inch  partition  that  bounds  the 
nest  so  that  when  the  hen  steps  on  it  in  entering  the  trap  it  will 
sink  under  her  weight  to  the  floor  of  the  trap,  forcing  the  sixteen- 
inch  length  into  a  nearly  vertical  position  (Fig.  154),  so  closing 
the  door  of  the  trap.  When  the  trap  is  set  the  sixteen-inch 
board  extends  straight  out  of  the  doorway.  The  hen  steps  up  on 


222       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


it,  walks  in  toward  the  nest,  and  her  weight  shuts  the  door;  she 
must  stay  in  the  trap  after  laying  until  released.  Each  hen 
should  wear  a  leg  band  bearing  a  number;  such  bands  are  pur- 
chased of  dealers  in  sets  numbered  from  i  up.  Record  should 
be  kept  of  the  laying  of  each  hen. 


FIG.  154. — The  trap  nest  (from  Bulletin  of  the  Maine  Agricultural  Experiment 
Station). 

Egg  production. — Egg  production  depends  much  on  the 
opportunity  for  activity  provided  the  chickens.  They  lay  best 
when  given  the  run  of  the  fields,  and  under  such  conditions,  too, 
they  forage  for  themselves  and  secure  much  of  their  food.  The 
egg-laying  breeds  are  the  best  foragers,  while  the  meat  producers 
cannot  be  depended  on  to  secure  much  if  any  of  their  food.  If 
the  chickens  must  be  kept  in  a  yard  it  must  be  large  enough  to 


'    ANIMAL  COMPANIONS  223 

allow  six  or  seven  square  yards  to  each  hen.  The  ground  should 
be  kept  fresh  by  frequently  spading  it,  which  will  also  induce  the 
hens  to  scratch  and  thus  get  exercise. 

Feeding. — A  laying  hen  is  an  egg-manufacturing  machine  and 
must  be  fed  well — that  is,  provided  with  plenty  of  raw  material, 
in  order  to  lay  well.  Moreover,  her  food  must  be  of  such  kinds 
as  may  be  turned  into  the  ingredients  of  the  egg  with  the  least 
effort  on  her  part.  The  simplest  method  of  feeding  is  to  provide 
the  chickens  with  a  variety  of  wholesome  foods  and  let  them 
select  to  suit  their  individual  needs,  for  even  if  a  balanced  ration 
is  provided  it  is  impossible  to  control  what  goes  in  to  the  chicken's 
crop;  one  hen  will  eat  only  the  corn,  another7 will  select  mostly 
the  oats  out  of  the  mixed  grain  provided.  m 

Five  sorts  of  feed  must  be  constantly  used:  (t) ground  grain, 
like  corn  meal,  linseed  meal,  or  bran;  (2)  whole  or  coarsely 
broken  grain;  (3)  animal  food,  like  beef  scrap.br  blood  meal; 
(4)  green  stuff,  like  cabbage,  beets,  or  clover  clippings ;  (5)  lime, 
for  shell  formation.  In  addition  grit  is  needed  to  aid  digestion. 
A  chicken's  food  goes  first  to  the  crop,  an  organ  for  temporary 
storage.  It  is  ground  up  later  in  the  muscular,  gizzard,  where  bits 
of  stone  or  gravel  help  do  the  work  somewhat  as  the  millstones 
grind  the  grain.  The  ground  grains  are  the  staple  articles  of  diet, 
for  they  are  most  easily  digested  and  most  promptly  usable  in- 
egg  production;  they  are  fed,  together  with  meat  scrap,  in  a  self- 
feeding,  ratproof  hopper  that  is  kept  where  the  hens  can  eat 
at  any  time.  A  good  combination  for  laying  hens  is  twenty 
pounds  of  wheat  bran,  ten  each  of  corn  meal,  gluten  feed,  or  a  low 
grade  flour  and  of  meat  scrap,  with  an  additional  five  pounds  of 
linseed  meal  every  second  month  (Maine  Experiment  Station 
Ration) .  The  whole  grains  used  may  be  wheat,  corn,  and  oats 
in  the  proportion  of  two,  two,  one.  Each  morning  throw  a  quart 
of  this  mixture,  for  each  twenty-five  hens,  into  the  straw  litter 
that  is  kept  on  the  floor  of  the  coop  where  the  hens  must  scratch 
to  get  it.  Chopped  cabbage,  beets,  or  mangels  together  with 
sprouted  oats  make  good  green  food;  a  cupful  a  day  for  a  pen 


224       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

of  twenty-five  is  enough.  Crushed  oyster  shells  for  the  lime  and 
grits  containing  some  charcoal  should  always  be  available  in 
hoppers  and  plenty  of  fresh  water  must  be  on  hand  in  the 
automatic  fountains. 

Cleanliness. — All  food,  as  well  as  the  straw  used  for  the  litter, 
must  be  clean  and  free  from  mold  or  mustiness.  The  coop  itself 
must  be  kept  clean;  wash  it  out  with  the  same  creolin  solution 
that  was  advised  for  the  dog  kennel,  spraying  the  solution  into 


FIG.  155. — This  Rhode  Island  Red  hen  was  mated  to  a  White  Leghorn  rooster. 
One  of  the  offspring,  a  rooster,  was  mated  to  the  hen  and  the  chicks  shown  are 
the  result. 

all  cracks  and  crevices.  The  perch  especially  must  be  kept  clean 
in  order  to  avoid  sore  feet.  Do  this  cleaning  only  on  a  bright 
day  and  then  early  enough  so  that  the  coop  will  be  dry  before 
roosting  time.  Lice  powder  may  also  be  used  freely  on  the  hens, 
nests,  and  perches.  Such  painstaking  care  in  housing  and  feeding 
chickens  may  seem  unnecessary  to  the  average  householder  whose 
back-yard  chicken  pen  supplies  the  home  with  eggs  part  of  the 
time  and  with  broilers  often,  yet  it  is  worth  while  for  the  boy  or 
girl  to  learn  how  to  do  the  thing  properly,  as  the  really  expert 
chicken  fanciers  are  doing  it;  for  the  extra  care  does  increase 


\  ANIMAL  COMPANIONS  225 

the  profits  enormously  and  makes  all  the  difference  between  a 
pen  of  chickens  that  really  pays  and  one  that  is  a  constant 
financial  loss. 

Accounting. — In  order  to  see  if  your  project  is  a  paying  one, 
keep  account  of  all  expenses — cost  of  feed,  labor,  and  supplies, 
together  with  interest  on  the  money  invested  in  equipment  and 
stock.  Credit  the  poultry  account  with  all  proceeds  from  sales 
of  eggs  and  chickens.  Experiment  with  different  sorts  of  feed, 
a  number  of  which  you  will  find  given  in  textbooks  on  animal 
husbandry  or  in  the  pamphlets  issued  by  state  agricultural 
colleges,  and  try  to  see  what  foods  give  the  largest  production  of 
eggs  for  the  money  invested.  Figure  the  average  cost  of  feeding 
one  hen  for  six  months;  having  the  egg-production  record  of  each 
hen  it  is  a  simple  matter  to  see  if  every  hen  is  making  a  profit. 
The  unprofitable  ones  should  be  marketed.  Study  the  market 
too;  possibly  some  household,  hospital,  or  store  can  be  found 
that  will  give  exceptionally  good  prices  for  a  dependable  supply  of 
strictly  fresh  eggs,  especially  if  they  are  of  large  size. 

Breeding. — It  is  a  worth-while  project  for  any  boy  or  girl  who 
has  a  pen  of  chickens  to  try  breeding  for  increased  egg-laying 
(Fig.  155.)  Even  if  of  the  same  strain,  hens  differ  much  in  their 
productivity.  The  hen  that  lays  fifteen  dozen  eggs  a  year  is  not 
uncommon  now.  Hens  will  lay  quite  as  well  when  no  rooster 
is  present,  and  such  infertile  eggs  keep  well.  When  eggs  are 
desired  for  hatching,  a  rooster  is  needed  for  each  colony  of  twenty 
to  twenty-five  hens.  It  is  quite  important  that  the  rooster  as 
well  as  the  hens  be  from  good  laying  stock.  Sometimes  a  hen 
herself  has  an  exceptionally  good  egg-laying  record,  but  does  not 
transmit  her  ability  to  her  offspring.  Keep  a  record  of  the 
matings  and  when  you  find  a  rooster  and  a  hen  whose  offspring 
lay  early  and  freely  use  the  same  pair  again  for  parents.  Try 
matings  of  their  offspring,  keeping  egg-laying  records  of  all  the 
pullets,  and  thus  attempt  to  discover  and  establish  a  strain  that 
will  give  large  returns.  The  hen  that  lays  a  hundred  eggs  and 
can  transmit  her  ability  is  better  breeding-stock  than  the  one 


226       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

with  a  record  of  two  hundred  eggs  whose  offspring  are  poor 
layers.  If  two  roosters  are  used  in  separate  coops,  the  hens  being 
so  far  as  is  known  alike,  and  the  pullets  from  one  coop  turn  out 
excellent  layers  while  those  from  the  other  lay  poorly,  likely  the 
rooster  from  the  first  coop  is  a  superior  bird,  prepotent  in  his 
power  to  transmit  egg-laying  ability,  and  it  would  be  well  to  mate 
him  with  the  hen  that  transmits  her  heavy  production  to  her 
offspring. 

Difficulties. — Such  a  project  cannot,  of  course,  be  carried  to 
successful  completion  in  a  single  year;  it  is  carried  with  the  pupils 
as  they  advance  from  grade  to  grade  or  else  turned  over,  with  a 
stock  of  good  advice,  to  the  incoming  pupils.  Nor  may  it  be 
conducted  without  meeting  many  difficulties.  One  second- 
grade  teacher,  bubbling  with  enthusiasm  after  a  summer's  course 
in  nature-study,  asked  her  superintendent  to  finance  the  begin- 
nings of  such  a  chicken  project,  but  was  rebuffed  with  skeptical 
coldness.  The  children,  however,  readily  caught  her  infectious 
spirit;  one  volunteered  to  bring  an  old  hen  in  the  spring,  and  a 
dozen  others  each  promised  an  egg  for  the  setting.  In  due  time 
the  hen  and  thirteen  eggs  arrived,  but  the  only  available  coop 
seemed  the  space  under  the  teacher's  desk;  so  there,  in  the 
wastebasket  which  was  turned  into  a  nest,  the  hen  was  duly  set. 
The  interest  in  the  progress  of  events  was  boundless,  and  the  hen 
was  hand  fed  during  the  process  of  incubation.  Thirteen  chicks 
hatched,  but  bad  luck  was  bound  to  follow  since  the  thirteen 
came  on  a  Friday.  Before  school  closed  that  day  one  little 
fluffy  nestling  had  already  died.  On  Monday  morning,  however, 
Biddy  was  presented  with  a  tiny  chick,  captured  from  a  neigh- 
bor's flock  by  one  enterprising  boy  who  feared  the  school  hen 
would  be  lonely  without  her  full  number  of  chicks.  Thus  began 
the  series  of  problems,  both  spiritual  and  physical,  that  attended 
the  enterprise  through  several  years.  The  janitor  volunteered 
to  provide  a  box  as  a  temporary  coop,  and  later,  when  the  chicks 
grew  larger  and  scattered  much  of  their  litter,  his  persuasion, 
added  to  that  of  the  pupils,  obtained  from  the  superintendent  a 


ANIMAL  COMPANIONS 


227 


more  commodious  coop  in  the  school  yard,  where  the  project 
produced  material  for  arithmetic  lessons,  compositions,  and 
drawing  lessons  as  well  as  eggs  and  more  chickens. 

The  dairy  cow. — Just  as  there  are  different  breeds  of  chickens 
for  different  purposes,  so  there  are  breeds  of  cattle  that  are 
particularly  good  as  milk  producers,  others  that  are  raised  largely 
for  the  fine  quality  of  their  meat;  the  former  are  the  dairy  type, 
the  latter  the  beef  type.  The  Aberdeen  Angus,  Galloway, 
and  Hereford  are  common  breeds  of  the  beef  type.  The 
Guernsey,  Holstein,  Fresian,  and  Jersey  (Fig.  156)  are  all  of  the 


FIG.  156. — The  dairy  type  of  cow.  Mature  Jersey:  "Sunbeam  of  Edgeley," 
629;  18,744  Ibs.  milk,  926  Ibs.  fat.  Owned  by  James  Bagg  &  Son,  Edgeky,  Ontario 
(Agricultural  Gazette,  Department  of  Agriculture,  Ontario). 

dairy  type.  There  are  some  cattle  of  the  general-utility  type 
serving  both  purposes;  such  are  the  brown  Swiss,  the  Devon, 
the  Shorthorn,  and  the  Red  Polled.  In  the  neighborhood  of 
many  schools  there  will  be  found  cattle  of  several  breeds.  Inter- 
esting field  trips  may  be  conducted  to  nearby  barnyards  or 
pastures  to  see  these  cattle,  after  which  the  differences  in  the 
types  may  be  talked  over. 

The  beef  creature  is  very  broad;  the  muzzle  is  wide  and 
strong,  the  eyes  far  apart,  the  short  straight  front  legs  have 
ample  room  between  them;  the  neck  is  short  and  thick,  the  level 
back  is  broad,  the  hind  quarters  fat  and  smooth;  the  whole 


228       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

animal  is  built  on  the  square  to  carry  weight.  The  dairy  type, 
on  the  contrary,  is  long,  deep,  tapering  toward  the  shoulders, 
muscular  but  not  fleshy;  the  shoulders  and  hips  are  more 
prominent.  The  udder  extends  well  up  behind  and  carries  well 
forward  along  the  belly.  The  milk  veins  are  prominent  in  the 
older  cows.  In  both  types  soft,  pliable  skin,  silky,  glistening  hair, 
neatly  pointed  ears  with  long  hairs  along  the  margins  and  at  the 
tips,  fine-grained,  not  shelly  or  coarse,  horns,  calm  eyes,  and  full 
forehead  are  signs  of  quality. 

Milk  analysis. — The  different  breeds  of  dairy  cows  produce 
milk  with  quite  unlike  qualities.  Some  breeds  give  milk  that  is 
particularly  rich  in  butter  fat;  others  yield  milk  that  contains  a 
large  percentage  of  solid  matter  and  so  is  especially  valuable  in 
making  cheese;  and  still  others  are  heavy  milkers  without 
producing  milk  particularly  adapted  to  either  butter  or  cheese 
making.  Such  differences  can  be  readily  demonstrated  in  the 
school  without  much  apparatus,  although  of  course  it  is  more 
satisfactorily  shown  with  the  usual  appliances  for  milk  analysis. 
The  more  accurate  methods  may  be  reserved  for  the  upper  grades 
and  only  the  crude  analysis  indicated  here  may  be  carried  on 
with  homely  utensils. 

Have  the  children  bring  milk  from  as  many  different  sources 
as  possible,  together  with  some  tall  pint  bottles,  jars,  or  glass 
cylinders.  Put  a  pint  of  each  sort  of  milk  into  a  bottle  or 
cylinder  and  let  it  stand  so  that  the  cream  will  rise.  Cream  is 
really  the  massed  butter  droplets  which  are  light  and  so  float  to 
the  top.  The  differences  in  the  amount  of  cream  can  readily  be 
seen  if  the  bottles  or  cylinders  are  all  alike  or  may  be  measured 
and  calculated  in  percentages.  It  shows  much  more  plainly  in 
tall,  narrow  bottles  than  it  does  in  wide  ones  like  pint  fruit  jars. 
Skim  off  the  cream  and  let  the  rest  of  the  milk  sour  or  else  curdle 
it  with  a  junket  tablet.  Pour  moderately  not  water  into  the  sour 
milk  and  stir  it  so  as  to  coagulate  the  solid  parts,  so  making 
cottage  cheese.  Hang  each  sample  up  in  a  separate  cheesecloth 
bag  and  let  it  drain  overnight.  In  the  morning  empty  out  the 


ANIMAL  COMPANIONS  229 

cheese  and  weigh  this  coagulable  part  of  the  milk.  Do  the 
samples  that  gave  the  largest  amount  of  cream  necessarily 
contain  the  smallest  amount  of  this  solid  part  ? 

Butter  making. — This  process  may  be  demonstrated  even  by 
the  little  children.  Have  each  child  bring  a  clean  pint  fruit  jar 
with  rubber  and  cap,  a  half-pint  of  cream,  and  a  small  strainer, 
like  a  tea  strainer.  The  teacher  may  provide  some  salt  and 
florist's  pot  markers  to  be  used  in  place  of  the  wooden  spoons 
with  which  the  butter  is  usually  worked.  Let  each  child  put  the 
half-pint  of  cream  in  the  fruit  jar  and  screw  on  the  top  tightly, 
the  rubber  band  being  in  place;  shake  the  jar  until  lumps  of 
butter  appear  and  continue  as  long  as  more  butter  forms.  Pour 
the  liquid  through  the  strainer  to  collect  the  butter  and  save  the 
buttermilk  to  taste.  Wash  the  butter  in  cold  water,  then  put 
it  in  a  cup  of  cold  water  and  work  it  so  that  the  separate  lumps 
are  massed  together  and  the  buttermilk  all  squeezed  out.  Pour 
off  the  water  and  work  in  a  pinch  of  salt.  Try  the  butter  on  a 
cracker  and  note  how  it  tastes. 

Feeding  the  cow. — The  dairy  cow  is  simply  a  machine  for 
turning  feed  into  milk.  Evidently  it  is  important  that  only  such 
feed  be  given  as  will  be  most  readily  digested  and  will  yield  the 
largest  returns  for  the  money  spent  on  it.  In  spring  and  summer 
no  feed  is  required  other  than  pasturage,  if  that  is  good;  in  fall 
and  winter  the  cow  must  be  fed  a  proper  ration.  There  is  no 
short  rule  for  telling  what  that  proper  ration  is,  for  it  varies  with 
the  season,  breed,  character,  and  condition  of  the  cow.  It  will 
be  enough  for  the  grade  pupil  at  home  to  help  weigh  out  and  mix 
the  feed,  help  weigh  the  milk,  and  determine  its  butter  fat, 
all  under  the  guidance  of  some  older  person  on  the  farm.  The 
results  as  well  as  the  methods  in  vogue  may  be  reported  at  school. 
If,  however,  feeding  on  the  home  farm  is  not  done  carefully  with 
weighed  proportions  in  order  to  make  a  balanced  ration,  nor  the 
milk  weighed  or  analyzed,  the  boy  or  girl  of  the  upper  grade  may 
get  consent  from  parents  to  undertake  it  with  one  cow.  He  must 
then  provide  himself  with  one  of  the  many  excellent  bulletins 


230      SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

issued  by  various  agricultural  colleges  or  state  departments  of 
agriculture  and  follow  the  instructions  given  regarding  feeding 
and  the  care  of  the  milk.  Some  titles  of  such  bulletins  are  given 
at  the  end  of  the  chapter. 

In  any  community  in  which  the  balanced  ration  is  not  fed  to 
cattle  or  the  milk  weighed  or  analyzed  the  school  might  well 
undertake  to  start  the  practice.  A  pair  of  spring  scales  could 
be  bought  and  lent  to  first  one  pupil  for  a  couple  of  weeks  and 
then  to  another,  so  that  the  food  could  be  weighed  out  in  accord- 
ance with  the  instructions  of  the  bulletin,  and  the  milk  produced 
could  also  be  weighed.  One  of  the  simple  sets  of  milk-analysis 
outfits  could  be  lent  about  in  the  same  way.  Each  pupil  could 
then  report  on  feeding  and  milking  one  particular  cow  for  a 
definite  period  and  all  could  note  the  effect  in  increased  or  better 
milk  production  of  the  improved  ration.  If  the  community  is 
already  feeding  scientifically,  weighing  and  analyzing  the  milk, 
then  the  pupils  will  be  interested  in  learning  at  home  what 
methods  are  in  vogue,  what  results  are  achieved,  and  in  reporting 
such  data  at  school.  Let  a  tabulation  be  made  of  the  breeds  of 
cattle  that  are  kept  on  the  several  farms  or  at  the  homes,  of  the 
various  rations  that  are  fed,  of  the  milk  yield  each  day,  and  of 
the  analyses  of  the  milk.  The  school  can  be  a  clearing  house  of 
much  valuable  information  and  at  the  same  time  pupils  will  be 
having  good  drill  in  securing  information,  reporting  on  it  in  good 
English,  making  accurate  calculations,  and  in  putting  results 
into  tabulated  form  for  comparisons  that  will  give  drill  in  the 
scientific  method  of  investigation  and  scientific  thinking. 

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— .    Kindred  of  the  Wild.    New  York :  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.   $2 .  oo 

.    Neighbors  Unknown.    New  York:   The  Macmillan  Co.    $i .  50. 

.    Watchers  of  the  Trails.    New  York:    Doubleday,  Page  &  Co. 

$2.00. 
Rogers,  Julia  E.    Wild  Animals  Every  Child  Should  Know.    New  York: 

Grosset  &  Dunlap.    $o .  75. 
SI.  Nicholas.     Cat  Stories,  Lion  and  Tiger  Stories,  Bear  Stories,  Stories  of 

Brave  Dogs.    Reprinted.    New  York:  The  Century  Co.    $0.75  each. 
Seton,  Ernest  Thompson.    Animal  Heroes.    New  York:  Charles  Scribner 

and  Sons.    $2.00. 
.    Lives  of  the  Hunted.     New  York:   Charles  Scribner  and  Sons. 

$2.00. 


232       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Seton,  Ernest  Thompson.     Wild  Animals  I  Have  Known.    New  York: 

Charles  Scribner  and  Sons.    $2 .00. 
Shaler,  N.  S.    Domesticated  Animals.    New  York:    Charles  Scribner  and 

Sons.    $2 . 50. 
Sharp,  Dallas  Lore.     Wild  Life  Near  Home.     Boston:  Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 

$1-25. 
Stone  and  Cram.    American  Animals.   New  York:  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co. 

$4 .  oo. 

Watson,  James.  The  Dog  Book.  New  York :  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.  $5 .  oo. 
Westell,  W.  P.  The  Boys'  Book  of  Pets.  New  York:  F.  A.  Stokes.  $1.75. 
Wright,  Mabel  Osgood.  Four-Footed,  Americans  and  Their  Kin.  New 

York:  The  Macmillan  Co.     $i .  50. 

Farmers'  Bulletins  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Wash- 
ington, D.C.: 

No.    96,  Raising  Sheep  for  Mutton. 

No.  100,  Hog  Raising  in  the  South. 

No.  106,  Breeds  of  Dairy  Cattle. 

No.  137,  Angora  Goat. 

No.  170,  Principles  of  Horse  Feeding. 

No.  234,  The  Guinea  Fowl  and  Its  Use  as  Food. 

No.  235,  A  Successful  Poultry  and  Dairy  Farm. 

No.  287,  Poultry  Management. 

No.  328,  Silver  Fox  Farming. 

No.  330,  Deer  Farming  in  the  United  States. 

No.  369,  How  to  Destroy  Rats. 

No.  442,  The  Treatment  of  Bee  Diseases. 

No.  447,  Bees. 

No.  496,  Raising  Belgian  Hares  and  Other  Rabbits. 

No.  528,  Hints  to  Poultry  Raisers. 

No.  530,  Important  Poultry  Diseases. 

No.  556,  The  Making  and  Feeding  of  Silage. 

No.  562,  Organization  of  Boys1  and  Girls'  Poultry  Club. 

No.  574,  Poultry  House  Construction. 

No.  576,  Breeds  of  Sheep  for  the  Farm. 

No.  612,  Breeds  of  Beef  Cattle. 

No.  619,  Breeds  of  Draft  Horses. 

No.  667,  Breeding  and  Training  Colts. 

No.  682,  A  Simple  Trap  Nest  for  Poultry. 

No.  684,  Squab  Raising. 

No.  697,  Duck  Raising. 

No.  743 ,  Feeding  Dairy  Cows. 

No.  767,  Goose  Raising. 

No.  777,  Feeding  and  Management  of  Dairy  Calves  and  Young  Dairy 
Stock. 


ANIMAL  COMPANIONS  233 

No.  779,  How  to  Select  a  Sound  Horse. 
No.  791,  Turkey  Raising. 

No.  803,  Horse  Breeding  Suggestions  for  Farmers. 
No.  806,  Standard  Varieties  of  Chickens:  the  American  Class. 
No.  811,  Production  of  Baby  Beef. 
No.  840,  Farm  Sheep  Raising  for  Beginners. 
No.  858,  The  Guinea  Fowl. 
No.  874,  Swine  Management. 
No.  889,  Backyard  Poultry  Keeping. 

No.  898,  Standard  Varieties  of  Chickens:  the  Mediterranean  and  Con- 
tinental Classes. 

No.  935,  The  Sheep  Killing  Dog. 

United   States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Bureau  of  Biological  Survey. 
North  American  Fauna  (largely  technical) : 
No.  13,  The  Bats. 
No.  15,  The  Jumping  Mice. 
No.  1 8,  The  Pocket  Mice. 
No.  29,  The  Rabbits. 
No.  31,  The  Wood  Rats. 
No.  32,  The  Musk  Rats. 
No.  36,  Harvest  Mice. 
No.  38,  The  Moles. 
No.  39,  Pocket  Gophers. 
No.  40,  Prairie  Dogs. 
No.  41,  Grizzly  and  Brown  Bears. 
No.  44,  The  Flying  Squirrels. 


FIG.  157. — Coyote  in  his  pen — a  school  pet 


fro 


y 


FIG.  158.— A  student's  cover  design— flowers 


CHAPTER  VI 
WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 

Weeds. — Every  child,  before  he  finishes  his  work  in  the  grade 
school,  should  know  the  common  flowering  plants  of  his  region. 
To  walk  afield  and  not  be  able  to  speak  familiarly  to  the  flowers 
that  nod  to  you  is  to  miss  one  of  the  commonplace  joys  of  life; 
and  one  does  not  need  to  go  out  to  the  country  to  see  these 
ordinary  flowers,  for  many  of  them  bloom  unnoticed  along  our 
streets  and  roadways,  on  our  lawns,  and  in  the  vacant  lots  of  the 
city.  True,  we  ordinarily  speak  of  these  as  weeds  and  ignore 
them,  or  perhaps  even  curse  them  as  pests.  Yet  here  are  some 
very  interesting  plants,  interesting  because  they  have  succeeded 
so  admirably  under  adverse  conditions  and  severe  competition 
and  because  they  illustrate  many  of  the  fundamental  principles 
of  plant  activity  and  plant  evolution.  It  will  evidently  be 
impossible,  in  the  compass  of  a  single  chapter,  to  treat  the 
flowering  plants  of  even  a  limited  portion  of  the  United  States; 
and  so  attention  will  be  given  only  to  those  plants  usually 
considered  as  weeds.  They  are  common  everywhere.  The 
same  species  are  of  wide  distribution,  occurring  all  over  the 
country. 

Parts  of  plant. — At  first  it  is  well  to  study  some  single  plant 
that  shows  the  parts  well.  We  may  take  the  common  soapwort 
or  bouncing  Betty  (Fig.  159),  the  evening  primrose,  the  fireweed, 
or  the  mullein,  also  called  the  velvet  plant.  Do  not  select  for 
this  initial  study  any  plant  like  the  dandelion  or  aster,  in  which 
the  so-called  blossom  is  really  a  cluster  of  tiny  flowers,  each  too 
small  to  be  examined  without  a  microscope. 

With  the  specimen  of  soapwort  in  hand,  an  entire  plant,  notice 
the  roots,  stem,  branches,  leaves,  flowers,  and  fruit.  Each  pupil 
should  have  his  own  specimen;  while  in  the  field  getting  it,  have 

235 


236       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

him  notice  the  extent  of  the  root  system.  Ordinary  sweet  clover 
is  another  good  plant  to  use  for  this  study,  as  the  fine  roots  will 
be  found  growing  to  a  great  depth  and  spreading  far  from  the 
stalk.  Commonly,  also,  on  the  roots  of  the  sweet  clover  will  be 
found  the  tubercles  containing  the  nitrifying  bacteria  that  enable 
the  leguminous  plants  and  some  others  to  utilize  the  nitrogen  of 


FIG.  159. — Soap  wort 

the  air  as  a  source  of  food  material.    This  topic  will  be  discussed 
more  fully  in  the  chapter  on  "  Seeds  and  Seedlings." 

With  a  sharp  knife  cut  a  cross-section  of  the  stem  of  the  plant 
and  see  the  fibrovascular  bundles  imbedded  in  the  softer  tissue. 
An  excellent  plant  for  demonstrating  these  bundles  is  another 
common  weed,  the  plantain  or  ribwort.  Pick  a  leaf  of  this  that 
has  a  long  stem  and  break  the  stem.  The  fibrovascular  bundles 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


237 


are  very  tough  and  will  probably  pull  out  of  a  part  of  the  stem 
as  strings  (Fig.  160).  Take  hold  of  one  of  these  strings  that  is 
still  attached  to  the  leaf  and  pull  it  out,  noticing  its  course.  Note 
how  it  branches  into  smaller  and  smaller  subdivisions,  each 
running  into  some  vein  of  the  leaf.  These  serve  not  only  to 
strengthen  the  stem  but  also  to  conduct  the  sap  of  the  plant. 

The  blossom. — It  will  be  observed  that  the  blossom  of  the 
soap  wort  is  composed  of  two  conspicuous  parts,  the  green 
cuplike  portion  or  the  calyx  and  the  pink  part  of  the  blossom, 
the  corolla,  the  base  of  which  is 
held  by  the  calyx.  Both  calyx 
and  corolla  are  made  up  of  sepa- 
rate parts  that  are  more  or  less 
fused  in  some  other  flowers. 
These  parts  are  the  sepals  that 
make  up  the  calyx,  and  the  pet- 
als, which,  though  unfused  in 
this  flower,  are  collectively  spo- 
ken of  as  the  corolla.  Pull  off 
the  corolla  from  the  blossom 
and  there  will  be  left,  besides 
the  calyx,  the  stamens  and  the 
pistil.  There  are  ten  of  the  for- 
mer, each  having  a  hairlike  stalk 

or  filament  that  bears  the  yellowish  enlargement  at  its  tip  that  is 
known  as  the  anther.  Probably  every  child  knows  from  observa- 
tion that  the  anther  discharges  a  yellow  dust,  the  pollen,  for  his 
nose  has  been  yellowed  by  it  when  he  has  smelled  the  flower.  At 
the  center  of  the  group  of  stamens  is  the  pistil,  an  Indian-club- 
shaped  structure  with  a  divided  top.  The  swollen  basal  portion 
of  this  is  the  ovary,  which  bears  the  two  threadlike  styles,  on 
the  tip  of  each  of  which  is  a  sticky  knob  that  is  termed  the 
stigma  (Fig.  161). 

Scientific  terms. — It  may  seem  to  the  uninitiated  that  a  great 
many  scientific  terms  have  been  used,  and  the  teacher  may 


FIG.  1 60. — Leaf  of  ribwort,  showing 
fibrovascular  bundles. 


238       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


hesitate  to  use  these  with  pupils.  Such  hesitation  is  quite 
groundless,  for  even  young  children  learn  these  terms  with  ease. 
There  need  be  no  fear  of  loading  the  child's  mind  with  too  many 
technical  terms,  provided  only  those  terms  are  used  which  are 
really  needed  in  talking  about  the  things  of  interest  to  the  child. 
If  a  flower  is  to  be  examined  and  its  activities  discussed  there 
must  be  names  for  the  parts,  and  it  is  just  as  easy  for  the  child 
to  use  the  term  "calyx"  as  it  is  for  him  to  use  the  descriptive 
phrase,  a  set  of  little  green  leaves  that  is  found  at  the  base  of  the 
flower.  Certainly  much  time  is  saved. 


FIG.  161. — Wild  mustard,  showing  parts  of  the  flower:  a,  seen  from  side,  sepals 
on  outside,  then  the  four  petals;  b,  a  single  petal;  c,  sepals  and  petals  removed,  six 
stamens  and  pistil  left;  d,  the  fruit,  the  ripened  ovary. 

Seed  pods. — Take  a  whole  flower  stalk  of  soapwort  or  of 
evening  primrose  (Fig.  162)  in  your  hand  and  note  that  the  basal 
part  of  the  stalk  is  occupied  by  the  seed  pods  in  an  old  plant. 
Open  one  of  these  seed  pods  and  notice  the  seeds  and  their 
arrangement  in  the  pod.  It  will  be  seen  that  while  there  are 
mature  pods  on  the  lower  part  of  the  stalk  there  are  newly 
formed  pods  farther  up  the  stalk,  and  still  farther  up  the  pods 
bear  the  more  or  less  faded  corollas,  each  of  which  is  partly 
inclosed  by  the  calyx.  Children  will  readily  discover  that  the 
pod  has  developed  from  an  ovary,  in  fact  that  it  is  nothing  more 
than  the  matured  ovary.  If  an  ovary  is  cut  open  it  will  be  found 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS  239 

to  contain  a  number  of  tiny  ovules,  much  smaller  than  seeds, 
but  arranged  just  as  the  seeds  are  arranged  in  the  pod.  This 
may  be  seen  to  hold  true  for  other  fruits;  compare  the  cross- 
section  of  an  apple  with  a  cross-section  of  the  ovary  of  the  apple 
blossom.  A  very  excellent  plant  to  show  this  relationship  is 
the  May  apple,  or  mandrake  (Fig.  163).  The  pistil  is  very  large 
and  shows  the  ovules  well,  and  all  stages  may  be  traced  from  the 
pistils  of  the  flowers  to  the  matured  May  apples.  Pupils  may 
thus  be  led  to  realize  that  the  fruit  is,  in  all  plants,  just  the 


FIG.  162. — Forming  seed  pods  in  evening  primrose 

ripened  ovary,  sometimes  with  the  addition  of  adjacent  parts 
that  adhere  to  it.  This  is  an  exact  use  of  the  term  " fruit," 
making  it  include  many  things  that  are  not  ordinarily  spoken 
of  as  fruits.  Thus  a  pumpkin  is  quite  as  much  a  fruit  as  is  an 
orange. 

Fertilization. — In  many  of  the  flowers  that  have  conspicuous 
parts,  the  pupils  can  find  the  pollen,  discharged  from  the  anthers, 
on  the  hairy  or  sticky  stigma.  The  successive  events  that 
complete  the  story  of  the  pollen  and  its  relation  to  the  transfor- 
mation of  the  ovary  into  the  fruit  will  have  to  be  told  to  the 


240       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


pupils,  since  the  parts  concerned  are  too  small  to  be  seen  without 
the  microscope.  Shortly  after  alighting  on  the  stigma,  each 

pollen  grain  thrusts  out  a  tiny 
tube,  finer  than  a  hair,  which 
grows  down  through  the  style 
into  the  ovary  and  penetrates 
an  ovule.  Meanwhile  an  egg 
has  been  forming  in  each 
ovule,  as  it  is  the  function  of 
the  ovary  to  produce  eggs 
from  which  little  plants  (or 
animals)  grow.  The  living 

FIG.  163.— Mandrake  apples  in  forma-  Content  of  the  pollen  grain 
tion  from  the  pistil:  upper  left  figure,  the  now  flows  down  through  its 
flower;  the  others,  the  enlarging  pistil. 

tube  and  part  of  it  unites  with 

the  living  substance  of  the  egg  (Fig.  164) .  This  process  is  termed 
"  fertilization,"  and  as  a  result  of  it  the  egg  proceeds  to  grow  into 
the  diminutive  plant  which  we  find 
within  a  seed.  The  rest  of  the 
ovule  forms  the  protective  cover- 
ings known  as  the  seed  coats  to- 
gether with  the  food  material  stored 
up  within  them  for  the  nutrition  of 
the  plantlet.  We  shall  learn  more 
about  these  when  the  chapter  on 
"Seeds  and  Seedlings"  is  reached. 
Pollen  and  fruit. — It  is  easy  to 
demonstrate  that  this  process  of 
pollenization  with  the  subsequent 
fertilization  is  necessary  for  the 
development  of  the  fruit.  Forcibly 

open  the  bud  of  any  conspicuous  flower,  like  the  bouncing  Betty, 
mandrake,  or  garden  pea,  pick  out  the  anthers,  and  then  inclose 
the  bud,  still  attached  to  the  plant,  in  a  little  paper  bag  or 
envelope.  This  will  guarantee  that  no  pollen  from  some  other 


FIG.  164. — Diagram  of  fertilisa- 
tion. 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS  241 

blossom  will  be  carried  to  the  pistil.  Such  blossoms  will  not  pro- 
duce fruit.  It  would  be  well  to  try  the  experiment  on  several 
buds;  in  fact,  each  child  in  a  grade  might  try  the  experiment, 
and  then  report  on  the  results  of  his  test.  It  would  enhance  the 
interest  if  several  different  sorts  of  plants  were  used.  If  several 
pods  of  garden  peas  are  opened,  there  will  be  found,  almost  cer- 
tainly, one  or  more  in  which  there  are,  in  addition  to  the  full- 
grown  peas,  some  very  diminutive  objects  which  the  children 
will  promptly  recognize  as  ovules  that  failed  to  develop.  This, 
in  all  probability,  is  due  to  lack  of  proper  fertilization. 

The  egg. — The  term  "egg"  will  usually  bring  to  the  mind  of 
the  child  the  egg  that  is  most  familiar,  the  chick's  egg.  This  is 
rather  unfortunate,  for  the  egg 
of  most  animals  and  plants  is 
a  very  small  structure.  In 
fact  the  real  egg  of  the  chick 
is  small,  since  most  of  the 
material  within  the  shell  is 
only  food  for  the  developing 
embryo.  If  a  hen's  egg  is 
laid  on  the  table  for  a  few 

minutes,  and  the  shell  is  then 

FIG.  165. — The  chicken  s  egg 
cut  away  from  the  upper  part, 

the  yolk  will  have  floated  up  in  such  a  position  as  to  show,  on 
its  upper  surface,  a  little  circular  speck  of  translucent  jelly-like 
substance  (Fig.  165).  This  is  really  the  fleck  of  living  matter, 
the  germinal  spot,  from  which,  if  fertilized,  the  young  chick  will 
grow.  Yolk  and  white  will  be  absorbed  as  food  for  the  enlarging 
chick.  This  little  germinal  spot  is  quite  comparable  to  the  egg* 
that  we  are  talking  about  in  the  ovule  of  the  plant. 

Weed  identification. — For  convenience  in  identification  the 
weeds  may  be  divided  into  several  wholly  artificial  groups  on 
the  basis  of  readily  observed  characteristics.  This  necessarily 
throws  together  wholly  unrelated  plants  at  times,  but  it  will  be 
convenient  for  the  beginner. 


242       SOURCE  BOOK  OP  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

I.    The  Weeds  with  Milky  Juice 

The  common  milkweed  and  the  swamp  milkweed  as  well  as  other 
less  common  species  have,  as  the  name  implies,  a  milky  juice. 
The  common  milkweed  (Fig.  166)  has  stout  stems  two  to  five 
feet  tall.  The  opposite  leaves  are  thick,  glossy,  elliptic  in  shape, 
and  have  entire  edges.  The  dull  purplish-pink  blossoms  are  in 


FIG.  166.— Field  milkweed 

clusters,  like  balls,  both  terminally  and  laterally.  The  pods  are 
somewhat  spindle-shaped  in  outline,  three  or  four  inches  long, 
and  are  full  of  brown  seeds  tufted  with  silk.  The  swamp  milk- 
weed has  the  same  general  habit,  but  the  leaves  are  lance-shaped 
and  the  pods  are  slender  and  tapering.  It  usually  grows  in  wet 
ground.  There  is  another  milkweed,  the  butterfly  weed,  with 
blossoms  the  most  showy  of  all,  but  it  does  not  have  the  milky 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


243 


juice,  so  will  be  noted  below.  Though  only  a  weed,  it  frequently 
keeps  company,  in  the  window  of  the  florist's  shop,  with  prouder 
pedigreed  stock. 

Any  one  of  these  milkweed  blossoms  is  no  mean  wonder.  All 
are  dependent  on  insects  for  pollination;  bag  the  blossoms,  even 
in  coarse  net,  and  they  produce  no  seed.  When  the  petals  turn 
back  in  the  opening  flower  there  are  disclosed,  as  the  most 
conspicuous  parts,  five  colored  cornucopias  that  are  veritable 
horns  of  plenty  for  the  visiting  bees,  for  they  contain  the  nectar. 
Between  each  two  nectar  horns  is 
a  slit-shaped  opening  bordered  with 
white  and  with  a  black  dot  at  one 
end.  Since  the  flower  hangs  down, 
the  bee  must  cling  to  the  cornucopia 
end,  and  as  it  turns  around  to  thrust 
its  sucking-tube  first  into  one  nectary, 
then  into  another,  it  is  very  liable  to 
put  a  foot  into  one  of  these  slits.  The 
sticky  pollen  masses  then  adhere  to  it 
and  so  are  carried  to  the  next  blos- 
som to  be  wiped  off  on  the  stigma. 
If  you  thrust  a  pin  down  into  one  of 
these  slits  on  a  mature  flower  so  as  to 
touch  the  black  disk,  it  will  stick  to 
the  pin  as  it  is  withdrawn,  bringing  with  it  the  pair  of  club- 
shaped  pollen  masses.  Sometimes  the  slit  closes  on  the  bee's 
foot  so  tightly  that  it  holds  it  fast  in  a  deadly  grip  and  the  insect 
that  came  to  sip  nectar  stays  to  die  a  lingering  death.  Flower 
clusters  not  infrequently  give  mute  testimony  of  the  imperfect 
operation  of  a  usually  effective  device  (Fig.  208) . 

The  dogbane  (Fig.  167),  a  close  relative  of  the  milkweed,  is 
also  an  insect  hangman,  though  it  does  not  look  the  part.  The 
slender  stem  grows  from  one  to  three  feet  tall  and  the  branches 
are  reddish  on  their  upper  sides.  The  oval  leaves  are  an  inch 
or  so  in  length  and  are  borne  in  pairs.  The  flowers,  in  terminal 


FIG.  167. — Dogbane 


244       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

or  axillary  clusters,  are  pretty  pink  bells  with  five  points  turned 
back  from  the  margin.  The  anthers  are  shaped  like  arrowheads, 
and  not  uncommonly  small  insects  get  a  leg  or  proboscis  caught 


\  FIG.  168.— Prickly  lettuce 

between  the  barb  and  the  filament  and,  unable  to  release  them- 
selves, die  hung  upon  the  flower.  All  parts  of  the  dogbane  plant 
are  poisonous  to  the  taste.  Apparently  it  is  the  dog  that  has 
suffered  most  from  the  baneful  effects  of  the  plant. 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


245 


The  Indian  hemp  is  closely  related  to  the  dogbane.  It  is  a 
sturdy,  upright,  branching  plant,  one  to  two  feet  tall.  The 
leaves  are  opposite,  twice  the  size  of  those  of  the  dogbane.  It 
yields  a  strong  fiber  that  the  aborigines  used  to  make  string. 

The  dandelion,  so  common  and  so  well  known,  is  also  a  plant 
with  milky  juice.  In  spite  of  its  abundance,  over  a  hundred 
thousand  pounds  of  the  dried  roots  are  imported  annually  into 
this  country  to  be  used  in 
medicinal  preparations. 

In  this  group  are  to  be 
classed  several  plants  with 
prickly  leaves  as  well  as 
milky  juice.  The  prickles 
are  confined  to  the  midrib  in 
the  prickly  lettuce  (Fig.  168), 
a  weed  which,  though  only 
introduced  into  Massachu- 
setts in  1868,  has  already 
spread  over  much  of  the 
country.  In  the  sow  thistle 
the  margins  of  the  leaves 
bear  weak  prickles  (Fig.  169). 

There  are  several  species 
of  lettuce  with  leaves  cut  like 
a  dandelion  leaf  that  do  not  bear  prickles.  These,  as  well  as  the 
prickly  lettuce,  are  tall,  slender  plants  four  or  five  feet  tall  and 
usually  grow  in  clumps.  The  upper  ends  of  the  leafy  stems  bear 
the  sprays  of  flower  heads  that  appear  like  diminutive  dandelions. 

The  spurges  or  euphorbias  are  graceful  plants  with  rather 
small  leaves  and  small  white  or  pink  stellate  blossoms  in  clusters; 
separate  flower  stalks  emanate  from  a  common  point  or  else  fork 
freely  to  produce  a  much-branched  candelabra  (Fig.  170).  The 
milky  juice  of  all  these  spurges,  of  which  there  are  several  species, 
is  irritating  and  very  bitter;  it  blisters  the  skin  and  acts  as  an 
emetic  when  the  plant  is  eaten  by  an  animal.  The  spurges  also 


FIG.    169. — Sow  thistle   (from   Farm 
Weeds,  American  Steel  and  Iron  Company). 


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go  under  the  name  of  wartworts,  because  the  juice  squeezed  on  a 
wart  is  supposed  to  be  curative.  "Lettuce  is  thought  Poysonous, 
when  it  is  so  old  as  to  have  Milk,  Spurge  a  kind  of  Poyson  in 
itself;  and  as  for  Sow-Thistles,  though  Coneys  eat  them,  yet 
sheep  and  Cattle  will  not  touch  them;  and  besides;  the  milk 
of  them,  rubbed  upon  Warts,  in  a  short  time  weareth  them  away" 
(Bacon's  Natural  History  [1625]).  The  most  poisonous  of  all 

the  spurges,  as  also  the  most  showy,  is 
known  as  snow-on-the-mountain  (Fig. 
171).  It  is  naturally  a  western  plant, 
growing  from  Minnesota  to  Texas,  but 
has  been  introduced  to  eastern  gardens. 
It  has  stout  stems,  two  feet  tall,  that 
are  usually  grooved  and  hairy.  The 
leaves  are  oblong.  The  flower  clusters 
have  below  them  whorls  of  green  bracts, 
edged  with  white.  Other  parts  about 
the  flower  clusters  are  white  too,  giving 
the  plant  a  glistening  appearance  dur- 
ing the  blossoming  period.  Even  honey 
gathered  from  this  plant  is  irritating, 
acting  as  an  emetic  and  strong  purge. 


FIG.  170.— Spurge 


II.    The  Weeds  with  Compound  Leaves 

Poison  ivy  is  one  of  the  weeds  that 
it  is  well  to  know  early  merely  as  a 
matter  of  self-protection  (Fig.  172).  Though,  as  the  name 
implies,  this  is  a  climbing  plant,  it  frequently  appears  merely 
as  a  low  shrubby  growth  on  the  ground, 'sometimes  forming 
immense  beds.  The  leaf  has  three  leaflets,  ovate  in  outline, 
and  in  fruiting  time  the  plant  bears  a  cluster  of  white  berries. 
The  only  plant  that  one  is  likely  to  confuse  with  it  is  the  wood- 
bine, which  also  has  a  compound  leaf  with  leaflets  all  spread- 
ing from  a  common  point.  But  the  woodbine  has  five  leaflets 
instead  of  three  and  does  not  have  the  white  berries.  The  white 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


247 


berries  of  the  poison  ivy  or  climbing  sumac  are  very  character- 
istic of  another  member  of  the  sumac  genus,  the  poison  sumac,  a 
shrub  which  grows  in  swampy  places.  Perhaps  the  very  poison- 
ous character  of  these  plants  is  sufficient  excuse  for  carrying  in 
mind  the  following  bit  of  doggerel : 

Leaflets  three,  quickly  flee! 
Berries  white,  dread  the  sight. 


FIG.  171 . — Snow-on- the-moun- 
tain  (Euphorbia  marginata):  a, 
whole  plant,  one-third  natural  size; 
b,  seed  capsule,  natural  size  (Farm- 
ers' Bulletin  No.  86}. 


FIG.  172. — Pioson  ivy  (Rhus 
radicans):  a,  spray,  showing  aerial 
rootlets  and  leaves;  b,  fruit — both 
one-fourth  natural  size  (Farmers1 
Bulletin  No.  86). 


When  the  white  berries  are  not  on  the  poison  sumac,  it  may  be 
known  from  the  other  sumacs  by  its  location  and  by  the  fact  that 
it  has  terminal  buds,  which  the  others  lack,  and  the  leaf  scars 
do  not  encircle  the  buds. 

Clover  is  a  good  illustration  of  a  plant  with  compound  leaves. 
There  are  usually  three  leaflets  to  each  leaf,  though  the  number 


248       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

is  somewhat  variable.  The  red  clover  is  known  to  everyone,  as 
are  also  several  species  of  the  white.  The  red  and  white  are 
said  to  cross,  the  pollen  of  one  fertilizing  the  other,  and  there 


FlG.  173. — Melilotus,  white  sweet  clover 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


249 


is  thus  produced  a  clover  with  a  pink  bloom,  the  alsike  clover, 
Trifolium  hybridum.  There  is  a  closely  related  plant,  the  black 
medic,  sometimes  called  hop  clover,  that  forms  dense  mats  on 
the  ground  and  is  therefore  especially  objectionable  in  lawns, 
where  it  crowds  out  the  more  valuable  grasses. 

The  sweet  clover,  or  melilotus  (Fig.  173),  is  a  very  widespread 
plant,  formerly  regarded  as  only  a  weed,  now  often  planted  for  a 


FIG.  174. — Cow  vetch 

crop.  The  plant  has  a  typical  clover  leaf  with  three  leaflets,  but 
grows  tall  and  is  much  branched.  The  white  fragrant  flowers 
grow  in  long  slender  clusters  from  the  axils  of  the  leaves.  As  they 
contain  abundant  nectar  they  are  much  visited  by  the  honey 
bees.  The  yellow  sweet  clover  is  a  smaller,  more  slender  plant 
and  the  flowers  are  bright  yellow. 

The  vetch  (Fig.  174)  is  another  plant  of  this  same  family,  the 
pulse  family,  that  is  occasionally  a  troublesome  weed.     The 


250       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

leaves  are  pinnately  compound  and  end  in  tendrils.  The  stem  is 
one  to  three  feet  long  and  tends  to  lie  upon  the  ground.  The 
flowers  are  purple-pink  and  grow  in  fairly  good-sized  clusters. 
The  loco  weed9  a  western  member  of  this  family,  is  much  dreaded 


FIG.  175. — Wood  sorrel 

by  the  ranchmen  because  it  is  poisonous  and  is  responsible  for 
the  death  of  many  thousands  of  cattle  each  year. 

Wood  sorrel  (Fig.  175)  is  a  low-growing  plant  found  commonly 
in  woods  and  fields.  It  has  a  leaf  something  like  ordinary  clover, 
though  the  leaflets  are  heart-shaped  because  of  a  notch  at  the 
tip.  The  leaflets  fold  together  down  the  middle  also,  especially 
at  night,  when  they  droop,  cuddling  together  for  sleep.  The 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS  251 

plant  bears  at  almost  all  seasons  of  the  year  rather  pretty  yellow 
blossoms  with  five  petals.  It  is  known  more  commonly  by 
the  children  as  sour  grass  because  the  leaves  have  a  pleasant  acid 
flavor,  though  they  act  as  a  poison  if  eaten  in  quantity. 

Cinquefoil  (Fig.  176)  is  a  very  common  weed  with  blossoms 
much  like  a  buttercup.  As  the  name  indicates  there  are  ordi- 
narily five  leaflets  on  the  compound  leaf.  The  plant  is  low, 


FIG.  176. — Cinquefoil 

usually  prostrate;  the  flowers  are  solitary  in  the  axils  of  the 
leaves.  The  rough  cinquefoil  has  coarse  and  rough  leaves  with 
only  three  leaflets  on  each  leaf  and  it  grows  more  nearly  upright. 
Still  another  has  the  undersides  of  the  leaves  covered  with  fine 
silky  hairs  which  give  a  silvery  appearance,  so  that  the  plant  is 
known  as  silver  cinquefoil. 

Queen  Anne's  lace  (Fig.  lyy/)  is  a  very  common  tall  weed 
with  leaves  that  are  two  or  three  times  compounded;  that  is, 
the  leaflets  are  compound  and  frequently  the  secondary  leaflets 


252        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

are  compound  too.     The  leaves  are  large,  mostly  basal,  and  from 
the  cluster  there  stands  up  a  somewhat  leafy  flower  stalk,  bearing 


d 


FIG.  177. — Weeds  of  the  parsnip  family:  a,  water  hemlock;    b,  water  parsnip; 
c,  poison  hemlock;   d,  cow  parsnip;  e,  wild  parsnip;  /,  wild  carrot. 

a  large  cluster  of  white  flowers.  Before  the  flower  cluster  is 
completely  open  the  marginal  flowers  are  in-rolled,  giving  the 
whole  the  appearance  of  a  bird's  nest,  so  that  the  plant  is  some- 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS  253 

times  known  by  this  name.  It  is  called  Queen  Anne's  lace 
because  ol  the  lacy  character  of  the  leaves.  It  is  known,  too,  as 
wild  carrot,  since  it  belongs  to  the  same  family  as  the  cultivated 
carrot,  the  parsley  family. 

The  wild  parsnip  (Fig.  17  ye)  also  belongs  to  this  same  family. 
Its  cluster  of  bloom  on  the  end  of  the  leafy  stalk  is  yellow; 
the  basal  leaves  are  heart-shaped,  those  on  the  stem  three- 
lobed. 

The  poison  hemlock  (Fig.  177^)  is  another  weed  of  the  parsley 
family.  The  plant  is  from  two  to  five  feet  high  and  has  a  stem 
that  is  smooth,  upright,  branched,  and  is  yellow,  spotted  with 
purple.  The  compound  leaves  are  found  well  up  on  the  stem 
as  well  as  at  the  base  and  are  triply  compound,  making  a  lacy- 
leafed  plant.  The  white  flowers  are  in  large  terminal  clusters. 
The  plant  has  a  disagreeable  mousy  odor  that  is  distinctive.  It 
was  the  juice  of  this  plant  that  Socrates  was  forced  to  drink  as 
a  death  potion  in  old  Athens. 

The  water  hemlock  (Fig.  1770)  has  a  much  more  open  cluster 
of  blossoms  and  the  compound  leaves  are  not  finely  divided, 
while  the  leaflets  are  lance-shaped.  Both  these  hemlocks  are 
exceedingly  poisonous,  all  parts  of  the  plant  being  dangerous, 
especially  the  young  foliage  and  the  roots. 

III.    Twining  and  Climbing  Weeds 

The  wild  morning-glory  (Fig.  178)  is  the  name  given  indis- 
criminately to  two  vines,  one  with  large  blossoms,  the  other  with 
smaller  ones;  both  are  pernicious  weeds  in  grainfields,  where  they 
grow  upon  the  grain  stalks,  bind  them  together,  and  smother 
them  in  abundant  foliage.  The  plants  are  also  known  as  the 
morning-glory  bindweeds. 

The  wild  potato  vine  appears  like  a  morning  glory  but  some 
of  the  leaves  are  fiddle-shaped  and  there  is  a  huge  root,  often 
weighing  seven  or  eight  pounds. 

The  black  bindweed  (Fig.  179)  has  the  appearance  of  a  morning- 
glory  vine,  but  the  basal  lobes  of  the  leaves  are  not  as  flaring  and 


254       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


FIG.  178. — Large  morning-glory  bindweed 


FIG.  170.— Wild  buckwheat  or  black  bindweed 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


255 


FIG.  1 80. — Passion  flower 


the  blossoms  are  inconspicuous,  borne  in  clusters  that  come  from 

the  axils  of  the  leaves.     It  is  also  known  as  wild  buckwheat,  as 

its  seeds  resemble  this  grain. 

The  passion  flower  (Fig.  180)  is  a 

common  trailing  vine  in  the  South. 

The  leaves  are  palmately  triply  cleft 

and  have  tendrils  coming  out  of  their 

axils.      The  handsome  blossoms,  one 

on  a  stalk,  also  come  from  the  same 

points.     The  egg-shaped  fruit  is  about 

two  inches  long,  and  when  dead  ripe 

pops  on  slight  pressure;  hence  the  other 

common  name  of  the  plant,  Maypop. 

Dodder  (Fig.  181)  is  a  curious  weed  bearing  no  leaves.     As  it 

climbs  up  other  plants  it  ap- 
pears like  masses  of  orange- 
yellow  or  reddish-yellow 
strings.  It  is  a  parasite  and 
thrusts  blunt  rootlike  pro- 
cesses into  the  tissue  of  the 
host  from  which  it  gets  its 
food.  The  plant  bears  clus- 
ters of  small  yellow  bloom 
and  fruits  abundantly.  One 
species  of  dodder  is  parasitic 
on  clover  and  is  spread  en- 
tirely by  impure  seed,  the 
seed  of  the  dodder  being 
mixed  with  the  clover  seed, 
which  it  much  resembles. 
When  the  plant  appears  in 
any  crop,  the  latter  should 

FIG.  181. -Dodder  0.1  hollyhock  be     pulled     up    and    1^^ 

together  with  the  attached  dodder,  for  it  is  a  scourge  to  be 
dreaded. 


256       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

IV.    Weeds  That  Lie  Low,  Forming  Mats  on  the  Ground 

Knotweed  (Fig.  182),  which  grows  about  the  door  and  in 
pathways,  is  a  thick,  matted  plant,  often  known  as  doormat. 
The  stems  are  prostrate,  growing  from  four  to  twenty-four 
inches  long.  The  smaller  branches  arise  from  the  nodes  or 
joints,  which  are  swollen  and  look  like  knots  tied  in  a  string. 
The  leaves  are  bluish  green;  the  flowers  are  small  and  very 


FIG.  182.— Knotweed 

inconspicuous.  As  it  seems  to  thrive  best  where  it  is  frequently 
tramped  on,  it  presumably  can  stand  treatment  which  would 
kill  an  ordinary  plant.  This  is  a  good  illustration  of  adaptation 
to  a  particular  environment,  the  plant  occupying  what  would 
otherwise  be  unoccupied  territory. 

The  common  chickweed  (Fig.  183)  is  easily  recognized  by  the 
numerous  small,  white,  star-shaped  flowers.  The  leaves  are 
opposite,  a  half-inch  in  length  and  ovate  in  shape.  The  Indian 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


257 


chickweed,  or  whorled  chickweed,  has  whorls  of  five  or  six 
stemless  leaves  at  each  node.  From  the  nodes  there  also  spring 
the  small  flowers,  without  petals,  but  whose  sepals  are  white 
inside  and  green  outside. 

Purslane  (Fig.  184),  or  wild  portulaca,  has  succulent,  stemless 
leaves,  wedge-shaped,  with  rounded  tips.    The  plant's  stems 


FIG.  183.— Chickweed 

and  leaves  often  have  a  reddish  tinge.  Even  when  pulled  and 
thrown  aside  the  plant  continues  to  blossom  and  bear  seed,  as 
the  thick  leaves  furnish  enough  moisture  and  nutrition  to  mature 
the  seed  even  under  such  disadvantageous  conditions. 

Low  amaranth  (Fig.  185)  lies  prostrate  on  the  ground.  Its 
stems  are  slightly  ridged  and  spread  out  from  the  root  of  the 
plant  in  all  directions  from  six  to  twenty-four  inches.  The  root 
is  pink,  so  that  the  plant  is  sometimes  known  as  the  lowpinkroot. 
There  are  spiny  bracts  at  the  bases  of  the  leaves  where  the 
inconspicuous  flowers  are  nestled. 


2  58       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

The  ground  ivy  (Fig.  186)  or  gill-over- the-ground  is  a  plant 
with  round  or  kidney-shaped,  scalloped  leaves.  The  flowers 
grow  in  small  clusters  in  the  axils  of  the  leaves  and  are  two-lipped, 


FIG.  184. — Purslane 


FIG.  185. — Low  amaranth 

as  are  so  many  flowers  of  plants  in  the  mint  family,  to  which  this 
belongs. 

The  creeping  mallow  (Fig.  187)  is  another  low-growing  plant 
bearing  rounded  leaves  with  wavy  margins.    The  flowers  are  pink 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


FIG.  1 86. — Ground  ivy 


FIG.  187.— Cheese  weed 


260       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


and  the  fruit  is  button-shaped.  There  are  usually  many  of  these 
fruits  on  each  plant.  They  are  sweet  and  are  often  called 
" cheeses"  by  the  children.  The  plant  is  sometimes  known  as 
the  cheese  weed  or  the  shirt-button  plant. 

Bedstraw  (Fig.  188)  is  a  creeping  plant  with  harsh  yet  slender 
stems  and  leaves  that  grow  in  whorls  of  six  or  eight  at  each  node. 

The  leaves  are  often  bristly  and  the 
stems  are  roughened  with  tiny  prick- 
ers which  are  felt  more  readily  than 
seen.  The  fruits  are  tiny  globular 
burs  that  are  troublesome  to  wool- 
growers.  The  dry  plants  make  good 
bedding. 

Mullein  (Fig.  189)  is  one  of  many 
weeds  that  lie  close  to  the  ground 
and  that  have  the  leaves  arranged 
in  rosette  form;  its  leaves  are  also 
thickly  covered  with  hair.  From 
the  center  of  its  rosette  there  arises, 
in  the  second  year  of  growth,  a  tall 
flower  stalk,  leafy  at  its  base  and 
bearing  hundreds  of  close-set  yellow 
flowers  at  its  top.  Both  the  hair 
and  the  rosette  habit  of  the  leaves  are 
excellent  devices  to  protect  against 
the  cold  of  the  early  spring  nights; 
and  this  is  one  of  the  first  plants  to 
appear  in  the  pastures  in  the  spring. 

Common  plantain  (Fig.  190)  is  another  plant  with  rosette-leaf 
arrangement.  The  leaves  are  ovate  in  outline  with  entire 
edges.  Running  through  the  leaf  stalk  are  several  fibrous 
bundles  which  are  very  tough,  so  that  if  the  'stalk  is  broken  these 
usually  remain  intact  and  pull  out  like  strong  twine.  The 
inconspicuous  flowers  are  borne  upon  a  tall  spike,  a  foot  or  so  high 
in  good  soil.  The  seed  stalks  are  often  given  to  canaries,  so  that 


FIG.  188.— Bedstraw 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


261 


the  plant  is  also  commonly  known  as  birdseed.    This  weed 
followed  so  closely  on  the  footsteps  of  the  white  man  in  this 
country  that  the  Indians  called  it  "  white  man's  foot." 
Wheresoe'er  they  tread,  beneath  them 
Springs  a  flower  unknown  among  us, 
Springs  the  white  man's  foot  in  blossom. — Hiawatha. 


FIG.  189.— Mullein 

Its  crushed  leaf  is  also  good  for  healing  wounds,  a  natural  shin- 
plaster.  Thus  Romeo  recommends  it  in  Shakespeare's  Romeo 
and  Juliet  (Act  I,  scene  2) : 

Romeo:  Your  plantain-leaf  is  excellent  for  that. 

Benwlio:  For  what,  I  pray  thee  ? 

Romeo:  For  your  broken  shin. 


262       SOURCE  BOOK  OP  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

The  ribwort  (Fig.  191)  is  a  close  relative  of  the  plantain,  but 
its  leaves  are  matted  rather  than  arranged  in  rosettes,  while  the 
flower  stalk  bears  a  cone-shaped  mass  of  bloom  at  its  upper  end. 
The  leaves  too  are  narrow,  veined  with  cross-veins.  It  is  also 
called  English  plantain  or  buckhorn. 


FIG.  190. — Common  plantain 

Several  of  the  docks  and  the  dandelion  have  the  rosette  habit. 
The  latter  has  been  spoken  of  under  the  weeds  with  milky  juice. 
The  former  have  long,  narrow  leaves,  often  a  foot  long  and  two 
inches  wide.  In  the  commonest  species  the  edges  of  the  leaves 
are  crinkly;  hence  the  name  of  curly  dock  (Fig.  192).  The 
blossom  stalk,  leafy-branched,  rises  from  the  rosette  to  a  height 
of  from  two  to  five  or  six  feet.  The  blossoms  are  inconspicu- 
ous, but  the  fruits  are  very  striking  if  seen  in  mass,  especially 
as  they  change  from  green  to  brown.  Each  fruit  is  a  seed  sur- 
rounded by  a  corky  rim  that  enables  it  to  float  on  the  spring  rain 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


263 


runnels  to  some  new  location  for  germination.  Each  species  of 
dock  has  a  characteristic  fruit,  sketches  of  several  of  which  are 
shown  in  Fig.  193. 


FIG.  191. — Ribwort,  or  narrow-leaved  plantain  (Kentucky  Agricultural  Experi- 
ment Station,  Bulletin  No.  183). 

V.    Weeds  with  Prickles  or  Thorns  on  the  Stems,  Leaves, 

or  Fruits 

The  Russian  thistle  (fig.  194)  is  one  of  the  most  troublesome 
of  weeds,  that  was  unintentionally  introduced  into  this  country 
by  Russian  immigrants  in  the  great  Northwest  in  1873.  When 
young  there  is  no  indication  of  its  spiny  character  and  the  leaves 


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are  long  and  slender;  but  as  the  plant  matures  the  stem  grows 
woody,  red-streaked,  and  becomes  much  branched,  so  that  the 
plant  spreads  out.  The  first  leaves  fall  off  and  the  later  ones  are 
short,  are  broad  at  the  base,  more  or  less  spiny,  and  have  a  sharp- 
pointed  bract  on  each  side.  The  flowers  are  inconspicuous  and 
the  seeds  are  very  small.  The  plant  breaks  loose  from  the  root 
in  the  autumn  and  as  the  round  top  is  driven,  tumbling  over  the 
ground,  by  the  wind  it  shakes  out  its  seeds.  The  succulent  parts 

of  the  plant  afford  nutriment  for 
the  continued  ripening  of  the  seeds, 
so  that  for  some  time  after  the  plant 
is  apparently  dry  and  barren  it  forms 
and  scatters  seed.  It  is  best  to  get 
acquainted  with  this  plant  in  the 
fall,  when  it  is  easily  recognized 
from  the  characters  given,  and  then 
to  observe,  the  following  summer, 
the  transition  from  the  soft-leaved 
stage  to  the  spiny  plant.  The  Rus- 
jsian  thistle  is  not  a  thistle  at  all, 
but  is  more  nearly  related  to  our 
amaranth  and  lamb's-quarters. 

The  true  thistles  belong  to  the 
composite  family,  and  their  best- 
known  representative  is  the  spear 
or  bull  thistle.  It  is  a  widespread 
biennial,  producing,  the  first  year,  a 
rosette  of  deeply  cut  leaves,  the  pinnately  arranged  lobes  armed 
with  strong  spines.  The  upper  surfaces  of  the  leaves  are  deep 
green  while  the  undersides  are  covered  with  a  brown  wool 
which  disappears  as  the  plant  grows  older.  The  second  year 
there  appears  a  branching  stem,  three  or  four  feet  high,  on 
which  are  borne  several  urn-shaped  heads  of  purplish  flowers, 
the  bases  of  the  urns  being  covered  with  spiny  bracts.  This 
bull  thistle  (Fig.  195)  is  the  national  flower  of  Scotland.  More 


FIG.  192. — Curly  dock 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


265 


FIG.  193. — Fruits  of  various  docks  enlarged:  a,  fruit  of  the  great  dock,  Rumex 
Britannica-,  b,  fruit  of  the  yellow  dock,  Rumex  crispus',  c,  fruit  of  the  pale  dock, 
Rumex  altissimus;  d,  fruit  of  the  swamp  dock,  Rumex  verticittatus\  e,  fruit  of 
the  bitter  dock,  Rumex  oUusifolius. 


FIG.  194. — Russian  thistle 


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than  a  thousand  years  ago,  so  the  story  has  it,  when  the  Danes 
were  attempting  to  capture  a  Scotch  coast  town  one  night,  a 
Danish  soldier  stepped  on  a  thistle  and  his  cry  of  pain  gave 
warning  of  the  attempted  surprise,  so  that  the  Scots  were  ready 
to  repulse  the  attack. 

The  Canada  thistle  (Fig.  196)  is  somewhat  similar  in  general 
appearance,  but  it  is  by  no  means  so  sturdy  a  plant.     Its  stems 


FIG.  195.— The  bull  thistle 


FIG.  196. — Canada  thistle 


are  weaker,  the  leaves  are  not  so  coarse,  and  the  heads  of  bloom 
are  smaller  and  grow  in  clusters.  Each  flower  cluster  is  only 
half  an  inch  across,  while  those  of  the  bull  thistle  are  two  inches 
broad. 

The  buffalo  bur  (Fig.  197)  is  a  plant  belonging  to  the  potato 
family.  The  stem,  which  is  one  to  two  feet  high,  is  branched  and 
hairy  and  is  covered,  as  is  also  the  fruit,  with  long  yellow  spines. 
The  leaves  are  pinnately  segmented,  suggesting  somewhat  the 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


267 


bur-oak  leaf.     The  yellow  flowers  are  wheekshaped  and  nearly 
an  inch  broad. 

Horse  nettle  (Fig.  198),  or  apple  of  Sodom,  is  a  close  relative  of 
the  buffalo  bur  and  also  has  a  hairy  branched  stem  with  numerous 
yellow  spines  upon  it;  but  its  leaves  are  ovate  in  outline,  toothed, 
or  sometimes  deeply  cut,  its  flowers  are  pale  violet  and  star- 
shaped,  and  its  fruit  is  an  orange-colored  berry. 

The  spiny  amaranth  is  a  weed  one  to  four  feet  tall,  branching 
and  bushy,  with  a  stout,  grooved, 
green  or  purplish  stem.  The 
leaves  are  lance-shaped,  pointed 
at  both  ends.  At  the  base  of 
each  leaf  is  a  pair  of  spines,  very 
stiff  and  very  sharp.  The  small 
greenish  flowers  are  in  terminal 
and  axillary  spikes.  The  tiny 
seeds  are  shining  brown  and 
lens-shaped. 

Cocklebur,  or  clotbur  (Fig. 
199),  has  no  prickles  except  on 
the  fruit,  which,  however,  is  usu- 
ally abundant  and  is  as  large  as 
the  last  joint  of  the  finger,  ellip- 
tical in  outline,  and  covered  with 
strong,  hooked  spines.  The 
coarse  plant  is  branched  and  the 
three-lob ed  oval  leaves  become 
rough  and  thick  as  they  grow  older, 
or  five  feet  tall. 

The  spiny  clotbur  is  a  much-branched  plant  covered  with 
whitish  hairs.  The  upper  leaves  are  lance-shaped,  entire,  and 
have  the  under  surface  covered  with  whitish  wool;  the  lower 
leaves  are  lobed  and  all  have  yellow  spines  at  the  base. 

There  are  several  plants  besides  the  cockleburs  that  are 
spineless  except  for  the  fruit.  The  sand  bur  (Fig.  200)  is  a  grass 


FIG.  197. — Buffalo  bur  (Farmers' 
Bulletin  No.  28). 


The  plant  often  grows  four 


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whose  fruits  are  armed  with  half  a  dozen  sharp  spines.  This 
grows  in  sandy  places  and  is  an  exceedingly  uncomfortable 
roadside  weed  in  midsummer  and  autumn. 

Burdock  (Fig.  201)  is  a  coarse  weed  with  immense  heart- 
shaped  basal  leaves,  often  a  foot  or  more  in  length.  The  stem, 
which  is  much  branched,  grows  to  a  height  of  eight  or  nine  feet 


FIG.  198. — Horse  nettle 

in  good  soil.  The  old  flower  clusters  occurring  at  the  upper  ends 
of  the  stalks  change  into  round  burs  protected  by  spiny  bracts. 
Children  use  these  to  make  baskets  and  various  articles  of  doll 
furniture. 

In  the  Spanish  needles  and  beggar-ticks  (Fig.  202)  the  fruits 
only  are  armed  with  spines.  The  stem  of  the  latter  is  from  one 
to  five  feet  high,  smooth  and  branching.  The  leaves  are  opposite, 
the  lower  ones  five-lobed.  so  that  they  look  like  compound  leaves. 
The  yellowish  flowers  are  in  daisy-like  heads.  The  fruits  are 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


269 


wedge-shaped,  flat,  and  black,  and  the  broad  outer  end  bears 
the  two  spreading  barbed  spines.  The  Spanish  needle  is  a  very 
close  relative  of  the  beggar- tick;  it  grows  in  drier  soil  and  the 
leaves  are  pinnately  two  or  three  times  divided.  The  fruits  are 
brown  and  are  about  three-fourths  of  an  inch  long  (Fig.  203). 
The  four  angles  each  bear  a  short,  barbed  spine. 

Hound' 's-tongue  (Fig.  204)  has  fruits  that  are  oval  in  outline, 
flattened,  and  covered  with 
short,  heavy  spines,  the  only 
part  of  the  plant  that  is  spiny. 
The  fruit  is  somewhat  the  shape 
of  a  dog's  tongue,  which  ac- 
counts for  the  name.  The  four 
fruits  stand  on  a  disk,  the  sharp 
ends  together,  the  broad  ends 
turned  down  and  out.  The 
leaves  are  lance -shaped  with 
heart-shaped  bases  and  are  stem- 
less  or  nearly  so.  The  blossoms 
are  clustered  and  are  reddish 
purple,  with  an  odor  like  that  of 
decomposing  meat;  both  color 
and  odor  are  attractive  to  flies 
that  help  pollinate  the  plant. 

In  Jimson  weed  (Fig.  205)  the 
seed  pod  is  the  only  part  that 
bears  prickers.  It  is  another 
very  strong  plant,  often  growing 
to  be  three  or  four  feet  high  and  so  branching  as  to  cover  con- 
siderable ground.  The  leaves  are  alternate,  from  three  to  eight 
inches  long,  oval  in  outline,  but  irregularly  cut  and  toothed. 
The  white  trumpet-shaped  flowers,  three  or  four  inches  long,  are 
solitary  and  grow  on  short  stems.  The  mouth  of  the  trumpet 
is  flaring  and  five-lobed.  The  purple  thorn  apple  is  a  very  close 
relative  and  quite  similar,  but  the  stems  are  deep  purple  and  the 


FIG.  199. — Leaf  and  one  fruit  of 
cocklebur. 


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FIG.  200. — Sand  bur 


FIG.  20 1. — Large-leaved  dock  or  burdock 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


271 


lips  of  the  trumpet-shaped  flowers  are  violet  or  lavender.  The 
prickly  capsule  is  also  purple.  This  plant  has  a  disagreeable 
odor,  as  does  the  Jimson  weed,  and  both  of  them  are  poisonous, 
especially  the  flowers  and  the  seeds,  if  taken  into  the  mouth. 
They  are  not  poisonous  to  the 
touch. 


VI.    Weeds  with  Simple 

Leaves  That  Are 

Opposite 

For  convenience  of  identi- 
fication this  group  may  be 
subdivided  into  (a)  weeds 
with  simple  opposite  leaves 
with  entire  (i.e.,  not  toothed 
or  lobed)  margins;  (b)  weeds 
with  simple  opposite  leaves 
that  are  toothed  or  lobed  on 
the  margins. 

A.      LEAF  MARGINS  ENTIRE 

Umbrella-wort  is  a  plant 
that  is  especially  common 
along  railroads.  It  grows 
from  one  to  three  feet  high 
and  has  angled,  forking  stems 
and  heart-shaped  leaves  with 
tapering  tips.  The  red  bell- 
shaped  flowers  occur  in  both 
lateral  and  terminal  clusters 


FIG.  202. — Beggar- tick  in  blossom 


and  there  is  a  five-lobed  involucre  like  a  collar  growing  below 
each  two  or  three  flowers.  Several  closely  allied  species  have 
narrower  leaves. 

Soapwort  or  bouncing  Betty  (Fig.  159)  is  an  escaped  garden 
plant  known  also  as  wild  sweet  William.     It  is  a  perennial  with 


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FIG.  203. 
—Beggar- 
tick  fruit. 


stout  stems  a  foot  or  two  high.     The  ovate  leaves  are  an  inch 
wide  and  two  or  three  times  as  long  and  have  three  to  five  strong 

ribs.  The  flowers 
are  in  large  terminal 
clusters,  pink  to 
white.  The  corolla 
consists  of  five  pet- 
als, the  conspicuous 
part  of  each  is 
heart-shaped  and 
bears  a  long  narrow 
claw.  The  juice  of 
the  plant  makes 
lather  with  water 
and  was  used  for  cleaning  pur- 
poses before  soap  was  so  uni- 
versally available. 

Corn  cockle  (Fig.  206)  is  a 
hairy  plant  one  to  three  feet 
high  with  linear  or  narrow 
lance-shaped  leaves'  The 
showy  flowers,  looking  like  wild 
pinks,  are  one  to  three  inches 
broad  and  are  bright  red.  The 
narrow  lobes  of  the  calyx  extend 
out  beyond  the  corolla.  The 
weed  is  particularly  obnoxious 
in  grainfields. 

The  bladder  catchfly  (Fig. 
207),  or  campion,  is  another 
plant  that  bears  blossoms  look- 

FIG.  2o4.-Hound's-tongue  inS  like  a  Pink'      Jt  Srows  to  be 

about  a  foot  high,   branches, 

and  bears  lance-shaped  leaves,  sometimes  reverse-lance-shaped, 
and  white  flowers.     As  the  plant  matures  the  inflated  calyx 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


273 


which  surrounds  the  fruit  dries  and  incloses  the  pod  that 
rattles  against  it  in  the  wind.  The  plant  is  known  therefore  as 
the  devil's  rattlebox. 

The  white  campion,  red  campion,  and  ragged  robin  all  have 
similar  inflated  calyxes.     They  look  quite  like  the  catchflies, 


FIG.  205. — Jimson  weed  (Farm- 
ers' Bulletin  No.  86). 


FIG.  206. — Corn  cockle 


but  have  five  styles,  while  the  latter  has  but  three.  In  the 
ragged  robin,  the  pink  or  blue  petals  are  cleft  into  four  linear 
lobes,  giving  the  flower  a  ragged  appearance.  Many  species  of 
the  catchflies,  too,  have  sticky  exudations  on  the  stems  at  the 
joints  which  prevent  crawling  insects  from  reaching  the  flowers 
and  robbing  them  of  the  nectar  secreted  to  attract  the  flying 


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insects  which  alone  carry  the  pollen  successfully  to  other  plants 

of  the  same  species. 

The  butterfly  weed  is  a  milkweed  without  the  milky  juice. 

The  great  clusters  of  brilliant  orange  flowers,  each  with  the 

typical  shape  of  a  milkweed  blossom  (Fig.  208),  make  the  plant 

conspicuous  when  in  bloom;  at 
other  times  it  is  not  likely  to  at- 
tract attention. 


B. 


LEAF  MARGINS  TOOTHED  OR  LOBED 

The  stinging  nettle  is  a  weed  two 
to  four  feet  tall,  densely  covered 


FIG.  207. — Bladder  campion 


FIG.  208. — Milkweed  blossom 


with  stinging  hairs.  The  thin  leaves  are  ovate  and  have  a  heart- 
shaped  base,  while  the  margins  are  coarsely  saw-toothed.  The 
small  flowers  are  in  axillary,  feathery  clusters.  Several  other 
species  are  smaller  and  more  slender  and  are  not  as  well  pro- 
vided with  the  stinging  hairs.  Still,  as  one  old  English  author 
naively  remarks,  the  nettles  are  plants  that  one  of  sensitive  skin 
can  find  even  in  the  dark. 

Vervain  (Fig.  209),  a  moderately  tall  plant  growing  from  one 
to  several  feet  high,  has  a  four-sided  branched  stem  that  is 
usually  hairy.  The  leaves  are  ovate,  coarsely  serrate,  or,  in  some 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


275 


species,  cut  more  or  less  deeply  into  lobes,  and  are  also  hairy. 
The  flowers  grow  in  terminal  spikes  and  are  purple  or  blue,  or 
paler,  even  white.  The  vervains  are  plants  with  mystic  prop- 
erties, supposed  to  act  as  charms  in  cases  of  love;  the  plants  were 
always  ingredients  of  the 
witches'  caldron  and  are  still 
used  to  make  the  bride's 
wreath  in  Germany.  "  Ver- 
vain is  used  in  casting  lots, 
telling  fortunes,  and  fore- 
shadowing future  events  by 
way  of  prophesie.  Of  all 
Hearbes  there  is  none  more 
honored  among  the  Romans 
than  the  sacred  plant  Ver- 
vaine"  (from  an  old  English 
translation  of  Pliny). 

Wild  hemp  (Fig.  210), 
quite  different  from  the  In- 
dian hemp  previously  de- 
scribed, is  a  rough,  branching 
plant,  three  to  ten  feet  tall, 
with  both  opposite  and  alter- 
nate leaves,  which  appear 
palmately  compound,  the  cut- 
ting is  so  deep.  There  are  five 
to  eleven  lobes  springing  from 
a  common  point  and  each  lobe  is  narrow  and  coarsely  toothed. 
The  flowers  are  in  elongate  axillary  clusters  and  the  fruits  look 
like  spikes  of  grain  or  grass  seed. 

The  giant  ragweed  (Fig.  211)  is  so  familiar  that  it  needs  no 
description,  its  picture  serving  quite  well  for  identification. 

VII.    Weeds  with  Strong  Odor 

Wild  onion  (Fig.  212),  leek,  and  garlic  are  a  trio  not  easily 
mistaken,  for  the  odor  of  each  is  characteristic.    The  wild  leek 


FIG.  209. — Blue  vervain 


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has  leaves  that  are  relatively  wide,  an  inch  or  more,  while  both 
the  others  have  linear  leaves.  The  leaves  of  the  onion  are 
sharply  keeled.  The  flower  cluster  of  the  garlic  bears  few 
blossoms  but  is  crowded  with  tiny  bulbs. 

Western  yarrow  (Fig.  213)  is  a  plant  with  a  rosette  of  narrow, 
lanceolate  leaves  that  are  much  dissected  so  as  to  be  feathery. 
The  flower  stalk,  which  is  leafy,  rises  from  the  basal  rosette  to 
a  height  of  a  foot  or  two  and  bears  a  flat-topped  cluster  of 

white  composite  bloom.  The 
odor  is  distinctly  like  that 
of  tansy,  which  it  much  re- 
sembles; but  in  tansy  the 
blossoms  are  yellow.  In 
England  country  maidens 
sleep  with  a  spray  of  tansy 
under  the  pillow  believing  it 
will  bring  them  dreams  of 
their  true  lovers. 

Dog  fennel  (Fig.  214)  is 
also  a  composite.  The  yel- 
low flower  clusters  are  daisy- 
like;  the  leaves  are  much 
dissected  and  the  odor  is 
rank  and  disagreeable. 
The  juice  is  very  acrid  and 
may  produce  sores  on  the 
skin. 

The  Jimson  weed  and  hound' s-tongue,  both  of  which  have 
disagreeable  odors,  have  been  noted  above  under  the  weeds  that 
have  prickles.  Stinking  Willie,  as  the  name  indicates,  has  a 
disagreeable  odor.  It  is  not  a  very  widely  distributed  plant 
in  this  country  as  yet.  The  stem  is  two  or  three  feet  tall, 
grooved  and  leafy;  the  leaves  are  lance-shaped  and  much 
dissected;  the  flowers  are  golden  yellow  and  grow  in  terminal 
clusters  that  are  about  an  inch  broad.  The  plant  is  distinguished 


FIG.  210. — Wild  hemp 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


277 


from  the  dog  fennel,  which  it  resembles,  as  the  flower  head  of 
the  latter  is  not  more  than  half  an  inch  across. 

Peppermint  (Fig.  215)  has  opposite  leaves  and  a  square  stem 
and  the  familiar  odor  of  peppermint.  The  leaves  are  stalked, 
lance-shaped,  with  toothed  edges;  the  flowers  are  in  fluffy 
terminal  spikes,  purple  and  rather  showy. 


FIG.  211. — Giant  ragweed  (from  Farm  Weeds,  American  Steel  and  Iron 
Company). 

Spearmint  (Fig.  216)  also  has  opposite  leaves  and  a  square 
stem,  but  the  leaves  are  without  stalks  or  nearly  so,  are  more 
tapering  at  the  base  and  more  coarsely  toothed;  the  flowers  are 
more  densely  crowded  in  the  spikes. 

Horehound  (Fig.  217)  has  stout  square  stems  that  are  woolly 
with  white  hairs.  The  leaves  are  opposite  and  oval  and  have 
rather  coarsely  scalloped  edges.  The  flowers,  which  are  nearly 


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white,  grow  in  dense  clusters  in  the  axils  of  the  leaves.  The 
points  of  the  calyx  lobes  become  hooked  spines  as  the  ovaries 
ripen  into  the  fruits,  which  are  little  nutlets. 

American  pennyroyal  (Fig.  218)  has  clusters  of  blue  blossoms 
in  the  axils  of  the  small,  obovate,  coarsely  toothed  leaves.  The 
weak  stems  are  square  and  covered  with  soft  hairs. 


FIG.  212. — Wild  onion  in  blossom 

In  catnip  (Fig.  219),  or  catmint,  the  stem  is  stout  and  square; 
the  leaves  are  opposite  and  heart-shaped,  edged  with  rounded 
teeth.  The  flowers  are  in  terminal  spikes,  pale  lilac  or  white  in 
color  and  dotted  with  pale  purple.  Cats  eat  it  with  relish  and 
roll  in  it  with  evident  satisfaction. 

There  are  many  more  mints  than  are  given  here,  but  these 
are  the  ones  that  are  most  commonly  encountered  as  weeds.  No 
plants  are  possessed  of  more  distinctive  odors  than  these,  and 
they  may  well  be  used  as  a  means  of  training  the  sense  of  smell. 
Try  distinguishing  the  plants  merely  by  their  odors  j  even  the 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


279 


dry  specimens  will  give  off  their  characteristic  perfumes  if 
slightly  moistened  by  breathing  on  them. 

VIII.    The  Grasses 

Crab  grass  (Fig.  220),  in  good  soil,  has  stems  that  are  one  or 
more  feet  in  length  that  take  root  wherever  the  joints  touch 
the  ground.  The  leaf  blade  is  three  to 
six  inches  long  and  is  hairy  at  the  base. 
The  flowers  and  fruits  are  in  spikes  that 
are  clustered  in  a  whorl  at  the  end  of  the 


FIG.  213. — Western  yarrow 


FIG.  214. — Dog  fennel 


stalk,  somewhat  like  the  ribs  of  an  umbrella  on  the  handle. 
The  grass  is  sometimes  called  umbrella  grass. 

Old  witch  grass  (Fig.  221)  is  one  or  two  feet  high.  The 
sheathing  base  of  the  leaf  is  very  hairy,  the  blade  itself  is  less  so 
and  is  about  six  to  twelve  inches  long.  The  tuft  of  bloom  when 
young  comes  out  in  a  broomlike  mass  half  the  length  of  the  plant, 
the  witch's  broom.  Later  the  flower  cluster  spreads  and  the 
stems  become  very  stiff  and  brittle.  This  whole  much-branched 
stalk,  with  the  seeds  on  the  terminal  branchlets,  breaks  loose  in 
the  fall  and  goes  tumbling  before  the  wind,  dropping  seeds 
frequently. 


280       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


Spreading  panicum  is  a  coarse  grass  with  stout,  flattened  stems 
that  at  first  are  erect  and  one  or  two  feet  tall,  but  later  they 


FIG.  215. — Peppermint 


FIG.  216. — Spearmint 


FIG.  217. — Horehound 


FIG.  218. — Pennyroyal 


grow  to  a  length  of  four  to  six  feet  and  lie  down  on  the  ground 
more  or  less  with  their  tips  turned  up.     The  leaf  blades  are  six 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


281 


to  eighteen  inches  long  and  about  a  quarter-inch  wide;  the  edges 
are  rough,  as  is  also  the  central  vein.  The  flowers  are  in  wide- 
spreading,  much-branched,  pyramidal  terminal  clusters. 

Barnyard  grass,  or  cockspur  grass  (Fig.  222),  has  stems 
from  two  to  five  feet  tall.  The  blades  are  smooth,  often  as 
much  as  two  feet  long  and  a  half  to  one  inch  wide.  The  seeds 


FIG.  219. — Catnip 


FIG.  220. — Crab  grass 


are  borne  in  green  or  purple  spikelets  that  are  densely  crowded 
in  two  to  four  rows  near  the  end  of  the  main  stalk. 

The  foxtail  grasses  are  readily  recognized  for  the  flowers,  and 
later  the  seeds  are  borne  in  terminal  spikes  much  like  those  of 
the  familiar  timothy,  but  they  are  very  bristly  with  hairs  that 
extend  out  beyond  the  points  of  the  seeds.  i\-'t 

Squirreltail  grass  (Fig.  223)  has  very  much  longer  hairs  or 
bristles  that  stick  out  many  times  the  length  of  the  fruits. 


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These  bristles  in  hay  are  a  source  of  trouble,  making  ulcerating 
sores  in  the  mouths  of  cattle. 

Vanilla  grass,  or  holy  grass,  has  a  distinct  odor  like  vanilla  in 
all  parts  of  the  plant,  which  it  retains  even  when  dried;  it  was 


FIG.  221. — Old  witch  grass,  or  spreading  panicum 

much  used  therefore  by  the  Indians  in  their  basketry.  The  grass 
was  also  used  to  scatter  in  front  of  the  churches  on  special 
festivals,  so  that  it  might  give  off  its  pleasant  odor  as  the 
worshipers  walked  over  it. 

Chess,  or  cheat,  is  one  of  the  most  troublesome  of  the  grasses 
that  infest  the  grainfields.    The  seed  of  the  grass  is  commonly 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


283 


sown  along  with  the  grain,  which  it  much  resembles.  The  stems 
are  two  or  three  feet  tall;  the  flat  leaves  are  hairy  above  but 
smooth  below.  The  flower  cluster  is  an  open  one,  and  when  later 
it  fruits  the  branches  droop  and  end  in  little  spikelets  containing 
from  five  to  fifteen  seeds  that  look  something  like  oats. 

Quack  grass  (Fig.  224),  or  couch  grass,  is  perhaps  the  worst 
weed  of  the  entire  grass  tribe.  The  rootstocks  are  found  near 
the  surface  of  the  ground  and  interlace,  forming  a  dense  mat. 


FIG.  222. — Barnyard  grass 

Tney  are  jointed,  yellow  between  joints,  and  branch  freely.  If 
they  are  cut  up  by  hoeing  or  cultivation  each  segment  is  ca- 
pable of  producing  a  new  plant.  The  stems  are  two  or  three 
feet  tall,  yellow  at  the  base,  and  bear  pale-green  leaves  that  are 
smooth  below  and  rough  above.  The  sheaths  are  smooth  and 
shorter  than  the  internodes.  The  spike  of  fruit  is  erect,  three 
to  eight  inches  long,  and  is  made  up  of  numerous  unstalked 
spikelets,  alternately  arranged  in  the  notches  of  the  zigzag 
main  stalk. 


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FIG.  223. — Squirreltail  grass 


FIG.  224. —  Quack  grass,  or 
couch  grass  (Farmers'  Bulletin 
No. 


FIG.  225.— Butter  and  eggs 


FIG.  226. — New  England  aster 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


285 


IX.    Weeds  with  Simple  Leaves,  and  These  Alternate 

The  weeds  of  this  description,  for  convenience  in  identifica- 
tion, may  be  subdivided  into  three  groups :  (a)  those  with  leaves 
having  entire  or  smooth  edges;  (b)  those  with  toothed  edges; 
(c)  those  with  deeply  cut  edges. 

A.      LEAVES   WITH  ENTIRE   6R   SMOOTH  EDGES 

Butter  and  eggs  (Fig.  225),  or  toadflax,  has  pale  green  leaves 
that  are  linear  or  at  least  very 
narrow  and  are  crowded  on  the 
upright  stems;  the  latter  are 
usually  a  foot  or  so  high,  but 
may  grow  to  two  or  three  times 
this  height.  The  flowers,  which 
grow  in  terminal  racemes,  have 
a  corolla  in  two  shades  of  yel- 
low, that  of  butter  and  of  egg 
yolk.  It  is  irregular,  two- 
lipped,  and  the  throat  is  closed. 
This  is  one  of  the  flowers  re- 
served for  the  bumblebees  and 
such  heavy  insects.  When  the 
animal  alights  on  the  lower  lip 
it  pulls  it  down  and  so  gains 
access  to  the  nectary.  Can  you 
see  how  the  arrangement  of 
stamens  and  pistil  insures  the 
transfer  of  the  pollen  from 
blossom  to  blossom  ? 

The  goldenrods  are  most  readily  recognized  by  their  clumps 
of  bright  golden-yellow  flower  heads  that  make  such  brilliant 
roadsides  in  late  summer  or  early  fall.  With  these  are  associated 
many  species  of  asters  (Fig.  226),  plants  with  numerous  heads 
of  bluish  to  white  marginal  flowers  and  yellow  central  ones 
which  make  them  daisy-like  in  general  appearance,  but  the 
heads,  instead  of  growing  singly  as  in  the  daisy  (Fig.  227),  grow 


FIG.  227. — Oxeye  daisy 


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in  clusters  on  the  upright  leafy  stalks.  There  are  so  many 
different  species  of  these  plants  that  the  student  must  consult 
some  of  the  books  listed  at  the  end  of  the  chapter  to  make  exact 
determinations.  These  are  so  numerous  and  so  attractive  in  the 
fall  at  the  time  school  opens  that  some  may  be  noted  without 

taking  pains  to  find  out  the 
name  of  the  particular  one 
that  is  studied. 

Composites. — Such  plants 
have  been  spoken  of  as  mem- 
bers of  the  family  Compos- 
itae.  The  individual  flowers 
are  so  tiny  that  they  would 
be  invisible  if  they  bloomed 
alone,  so  they  unite  in  com- 
panies or  societies  and  stand 
together  to  make  a  brave  ap- 
pearance. Some  weeds,  like 
the  grasses,  have  flowers  that 
few  people  notice  and  that 
probably  the  insects  seldom 
see;  but  such  plants  produce 
so  much  pollen  in  their  flowers 
that  they  can  rely  on  the 
wind  to  carry  some  of  it  to  a 
neighboring  blossom  to  ferti- 
lize, so  that  each  flower  may  get  its  share.  Other  weeds,  like 
the  corn  cockle  or  bouncing  Betty,  have  large  enough  blossoms 
to  make  a  showing  and  to  attract  the  insects  to  them,  both 
because  of  their  bright  colors  and  their  sweet  nectar.  It  is 
always  interesting  to  study  a  flower  to  see  if  one  can  find  out  how 
it  is  fitted  to  profit  by  the  visit  of  the  particular  insect  that 
visits  it  most  regularly.  Such  plants  as  goldenrods  and  asters 
rely  on  the  joint  efforts  of  the  many  associated  flowers  to  attract 
the  necessary  insects,  and  one  need  only  sit  down  beside  a  plant 


FIG.  228. — Smartweed 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


287 


and  watch  to  see  how  many  insect  visitors  it  has  in  a  few  minutes 

to  realize  that  these  plants  have  successfully  met  the  situation. 

In  the  goldenrods  just  a  few  flowers  have  joined  together  in  a 

single  household  and  are  inclosed  together  in  a  little  green 

thatched  home.     Dozens  and  hundreds  of  these  stand  in  rows 

on  the  streets  of  the  goldenrod  city  that 

makes  so  conspicuous  a  showing  on  the 

top  of  the  leafy  stem.     In  each  household 

there  is  also  a  division  of  labor,  a  division 

that  is  even  more  apparent  in  such  a 

flower  head  as  that  of  the  aster  or  the 

sunflower.    The  flowers  along  the  margin 

of  the  group  are  mostly  for  show  and 

each   bears   a   strap-shaped   banner  of 

brilliant  color,   really  the  corolla  split 

open  and  spread  out.     The  flowers  at 

the  center  of  the  group,  less  showy  but 

more  essential,  bear   the  stamens  and 

pistil  which  the  ray  flowers  frequently 

lack. 

Smartweed  (Fig.  228)  has  narrow  lance- 
shaped  leaves  with  entire  margins.  The 
leaves  are  sessile  or  nearly  so,  and  stipules 
on  the  base  of  each  leaf  sheathe  the  stem. 
The  stems  are  weak.  The  flowers  are 
borne  in  terminal  spikes  and  are  greenish 
white  to  pink  or  even  deep  red,  especially 
in  the  bud.  The  common  smartweed, 
which  has  greenish  flowers,  ^rows  in  moist  ground.  One  other 
species,  with  bright  pink  flowers,  often  has  its  leaves  marked 
with  crescentic  reddish  to  purplish  spots  which  look  like  bruises 
made  by  the  pinch  of  a  thumb.  It  is  commonly  known  as 
lady's- thumb. 

Sheep  sorrel  (Fig.  229),  or  sour  grass,  sometimes  known  also 
as  sour  dock,  is  a  low  plant  with  many  halberd-shaped  leaves 


FIG.  229. — Sheep  sorrel 


288       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

coming  out  near  the  ground  and  lance-shaped  ones  farther  up  the 
weak,  reddish  stem.  The  flower  cluster  is  branching,  reddish, 
and  relatively  inconspicuous,  except  when  the  plant  grows  in 
masses,  when  the  red  glows  on  the  ground.  The  plant  indicates 
a  sour  soil  and  often  grows  on  "worn-out"  fields,  fields  that 
need  liming  and  cultivation  to  make  them  productive. 

Pokeweed  (Fig.  230)  is  a  good-sized  smooth  plant  with  an 
unpleasant  odor.  The  stalks  are  five  or  six  feet  high  usually 
but  may  be  double  this  in  good  soil.  The  leaves  are  lance- 
shaped;  the  flowers  are  white,  five-  or  six-lobed,  and  borne  in 


FIG.  230. — Pokeweed  (Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  i 


terminal  racemes.  As  the  plant  grows  these  become  lateral 
opposite  the  leaves.  The  drooping  fruit  consists  of  clusters  of 
dark-purple  berries  with  ten  seeds.  Their  juice  is  red  and  is  the 
source  of  the  red  ink  that  is  a  resource  in  the  plays  of  children. 
The  root  is  very  poisonous  to  taste  and  the  berries  are  sickening. 
The  rough  pigweed  (Fig.  231),  or  amaranth,  also  known  as 
pinkroot,  is  one  of  the  most  common  of  weeds.  The  .stem  is 
stout,  tough,  and  upright,  and  is  one  to  six  feet  high  and  some- 
times more.  The  plant  is  much  branched  and  is  hairy;  the 
ovate  leaves  are  three  to  six  inches  long  and  have  conspicuous 
ribs  and  veins  and  are  stalked.  In  the  axils  of  these  leaves 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


289 


occur  dense  clusters  of  flowers,  each  cluster  having  at  its  base 
three  prickly  bracts.  The  flowers  are  small  and  greenish  and 
each  produces  a  single  jet-black,  shiny  seed,  which  is  a  flattened 
oval.  The  root  is  large  and  pink  on  the  exterior,  which  gives  the 
plant  one  of  its  names. 

B.   LEAVES  WITH  TOOTHED  EDGES 

Lamb' 's-quarters  (Fig.  232)  is  perhaps  the  commonest  of 
several  weeds  belonging  to  the  genus  Chenopodium.  It  is  also 
known  as  pigweed,  for  both 
pigs  and  sheep  will  eat  it 
when  it  is  young.  The  stem 
is  usually  from  two  to  four 
feet  high,  is  branched  and 
grooved,  and  is  often  striped 
with  pink  or  purple.  The 
upper  leaves  are  narrow  and 
lance-shaped,  with  margins 
that  are  somewhat  irregu- 
larly cut  and  toothed,  while 
the  lower  leaves  are  broadly 
ovate,  often  three-lobed  and 
somewhat  in  the  shape  of  a 
goose's  foot,  whence  the  plant 
gets  another  of  its  common  names,  goosefoot.  The  flowers  are 
small  and  green,  crowded  in  clusters  that  terminate  the  branches; 
the  seed  is  lens-shaped,  small,  and  black.  Two  other  weeds,  not 
as  sturdy  as  lamb 's-quarters,  belong  to  this  same  genus.  They 
are  the  spreading  and  halberd-leaved  or  ache.  They  are  half-erect 
or  prostrate  plants,  the  former  with  lance-shaped  leaves  that  are 
sparingly  wavy-toothed,  the  latter  with  halberd-shaped  leaves, 
at  least  at  the  base  of  the  plant.  All  these  plants  are  subject 
to  blights,  which  may  readily  be  transferred  to  such  cultivated 
plants  as  spinach  and  beets. 

Nightshade  (Fig.  233)  is  a  plant  one  to  two  feet  high  with  a 
rather  slender  branching  stem.     The  leaves  are  ovate  and  have 


FIG.  231. — Tall  amaranth  or  pinkroot 


2QO       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

slim,  grooved  stalks.  Sometimes  their  margins  are  entire,  but 
usually  they  are  wavy-toothed.  The  flowers  are  white,  in  small 
axillary  clusters,  and  look  like  potato  blossoms,  for  the  plant 
belongs  to  the  potato  family.  The  fruit  is  a  purple  berry  that  is 
likely  to  cause  severe  nausea  if  eaten. 

The  evening  primrose  (Fig.  162)  is  a  tall,  rather  slender,  plant, 
sometimes,  however,  branched  so  as  to  be  wide-spreading.     The 


FIG.  232. — Looking  down  on  a  bed  of  lamb's-quarters 

root  leaves  are  lance-shaped,  long,  hairy,  and  only  slightly 
toothed.  The  upper  leaves  are  much  smaller  and  have  no  stems. 
The  root  leaves  appear  as  a  rosette  one  year  and  the  rest  of  the 
plant  does  not  grow  until  the  second  year  ordinarily.  The 
showy  flowers  are  axillary  and  have  sepals  that  turn  back  and  a 
corolla  that  is  borne  on  the  ovary.  The  seed  pods  are  an  inch 
or  so  long,  four-angled,  and  begin  to  open  by  splitting  at  the  top. 
It  is  interesting  to  estimate  the  number  of  seeds  on  a  single  olant 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


291 


by  counting  the  number  in  several  pods  to  get  an  average 
and  then  counting  the  number  of  pods  on  a  good-sized  plant  in 
the  fall. 

Only  insects  with  very  long  sucking-tubes  can  get  the  nectar 
from  a  blossom  with  such  a  long  slender  tube  as  has  this  evening 
primrose.  You  may  catch  the  one  that  is  served  by  this  flower 
and  that  in  turn  serves  the  flower  by  carrying  the  pollen;  it  is  a 
yellow  moth  with  pink  markings  on 
the  wings,  and  like  most  of  the  moths 
it  flies  only  at  dusk  or  by  night.  The 
evening  primrose  therefore  opens  late 
in  the  afternoon,  or  on  cloudy  days  it 
may  open  early.  After  the  flower  is 
pollinated  by  the  moth  it  closes  and 
begins  to  wither.  If  you  will  tear 
open  the  withered  blossoms  that  were 
open  the  previous  evening  the  moth 
may  be  found  a  prisoner,  for  it  stays 
drinking  like  a  toper  until  after  clos- 
ing hours,  and  thus  remains  a  prisoner 
until  it  forces  its  way  out  for  the  next 
evening's  revels.  It  may  occasionally 
be  found  in  the  unclosed  blossoms 
also,  and  its  larva  is  to  be  seen  on 
the  buds  and  young  blossoms  which  it 
riddles  with  the  holes  it  eats  in  them. 

The  giant  willow  herb,  or  fireweed,  is  another  tall  plant,  two 
to  six  feet  in  height;  it  is  somewhat  woody  and  the  stem  is 
reddish  at  the  base.  The  leaves  are  narrow  and  lance-shaped, 
sometimes  entire,  though  usually  minutely  toothed.  The 
flower  cluster  is  a  showy  raceme  with  the  blossoms  varying  in 
color  from  purple  to  white.  There  are  four  petals,  twice  as  many 
stamens,  and  a  four-parted  stigma.  The  change  in  the  relative 
position  of  the  parts  of  the  flower  during  fertilization  makes  an 
interesting  study.  Until  the  stamens  have  discharged  their 


FIG.  233. — Black  nightshade 
(Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  86). 


292        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


pollen  the  sticky  stigma  is  not  exposed.  When  the  stamens  no 
longer  bear  pollen  they  turn  back  out  of  the  way  and  the  pistil 
brings  the  now  open  stigma  into  such  position  that  a  visiting 
insect  must  rub  off  on  it  the  pollen  he  has  acquired  in  some  other 
blossom.  The  plant  is  one  of  the  first  to  appear  in  burned  forest 
land  and  often  covers  hundreds  of  acres  with  its  brilliant  bloom. 

Gaura  is  a  closely  related  plant  that 
looks  much  like  the  fireweed  but  is  of 
wider  distribution,  though  it  does  not 
occur  in  such  masses.  The  hairy  flower 
stalk,  two  to  four  feet  tall  and  woody 
when  mature,  rises  from  a  rosette  of 
lance-shaped  leaves  that  are  pointed  at 
both  ends  and  slightly  toothed;  the 
leaves  on  the  flower  stalk  are  sessile. 
There  are  four  petals,  eight  stamens, 
and  a  long  four-parted  stigma.  The 
solitary  flowers  grow  at  the  ends  of 
the  numerous  branches  near  the  top  of 
the  plant. 

Peppergrass  (Fig.  234)  is  well  known 
to  country  children  who  eat  the  fruit  for 
its  spicy  taste.  The  stem  of  the  plant  is 
usually  only  a  foot  or  so  high,  though 
it  may  be  five  or  six  feet  high.  The 
lower  leaves  are  narrow,  are  broader  at 
the  outer  end  than  at  the  base,  and  are 
very  much  dissected;  the  stem  leaves  are  smaller  and  are 
simply  toothed.  The  small  white  flowers  grow  in  both  terminal 
and  axillary  clusters.  The  seed  pod  is  rather  small,  round,  and 
flattened,  and  a  conspicuous  partition  is  apparent  on  the  flat  face. 
Shepherd' s-purse  (Fig.  235)  is  the  commonest  weed  on  earth. 
There  is  usually  a  basal  rosette  of  rather  slender  leaves  that  are 
deeply  cut,  but  the  stem  leaves  are  only  toothed.  The  flower 
stalk  rises  from  six  inches  to  two  feet  and  bears  the  small  white 


FIG.  234. — Peppergrass 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


293 


flowers  in  a  long  raceme.  The  flat  seed  pods  are  heart-shaped 
with  a  partition  showing  on  the  flattened  faces;  they  somewhat 
suggest  the  old-fashioned  shepherd's  bag;  hence  the  name. 

Fleabane  (Fig.  236)  is  a  weed  with  numerous  small,  white  or 
purplish,  daisy-like  blossoms.  It  usually  grows  only  a  foot  or 
two  tall;  the  stem  is  upright,  grooved,  hairy,  and  branched;  the 
leaves  are  slender,  lance-shaped  or  linear,  closely  but  sparingly 
toothed.  The  heads  of  bloom 
are  about  a  fifth  of  an  inch 
across.  The  plant  gives  off 
an  irritating  oil  when  handled ; 
it  is  said  to  be  a  preventive 
of  fleas  if  kept  under  carpets 
or  between  bed  sheets.  The 
Philadelphia  fleabane  is  simi- 
lar, but  the  ray  flowers  are 
rose-tinted.  Horseweed  is  a 
close  relative  with  very  short 
ray  flowers  and  very  many 
cylindrical  heads  of  bloom,  all 
smaller  than  those  of  fleabane. 


c. 


LEAVES  WITH  DEEPLY  CUT 
EDGES 


FIG.  235. — Shepherd's-purse 


See  peppergrass  and  shep- 
herd's-purse,  above. 

Tansy  belongs  in  this 
group,  but  it  has  already  been  noted  under  the  weeds  with 
strong  odors.  Cocklebur,  if  not  fruiting,  might  be  referred  here, 
but  it  has  been  described  among  plants  that  bear  prickles  or 
spines. 

Ragweed,  the  lesser,  not  the  giant,  is  a  very  common,  vigorous 
weed,  with  large  leaves  that  are  broadly  lance-shaped  to  ovate. 
The  leaves  are  dissected  and  the  leaflets  also,  so  that  they  have  a 
somewhat  fernlike  aspect.  The  flowers  grow  in  what  appear 
to  be  drooping  spikes  (really  racemes)  at  the  ends  of  the  branches 


294       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

and  discharge  clouds  of  pollen  when  mature.  The  hard  egg- 
shaped  fruits  are  an  eighth  of  an  inch  long, and  bear,  at  the  larger 
end,  several  spiny  points.  The  giant  ragweed  has  been  noted 
among  the  plants  with  opposite  leaves. 


FIG.  236. — Daisy  fleabane 

Wormwood  (Fig.  237)  grows  quite  as  rapidly  as  ragweed.  The 
stem  is  also  tall  and  much  branched;  the  leaves  are  much  dis- 
sected and  are  rather  sweet-scented.  The  plant  is  a  composite, 
the  flowers  being  borne  in  very  small  heads  that  are  found  in 
open  clusters  at  the  end  of  the  branches.  The  leaves  and  the 
stems  have  an  exceedingly  bitter  taste. 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS 


295 


The  oxeye  daisy  is  so  well  known  by  its  flower  clusters  that  it 
hardly  needs  description.  The  white  ray  flowers  and  the  yellow 
disk  flowers  make  a  head  of  bloom  that  is  conspicuous.  The 
simple  grooved  stems,  one  to  three  feet  high,  usually  grow  in 
clumps.  The  root  leaves  are  wider  at  the  outer  end  than  at  the 
base  and  are  irregularly  cut  and  toothed.  The  plant  is  also 
known  as  poverty  weed,  be- 
cause it  seems  to  grow  rankly 
on  poor  soil. 

The  mustards  (Fig.  238) 
are  very  common' weeds.  All 
have  yellow  flowers  with  the 
four  petals  spreading  like  the 
arms  of  a  Greek  cross,  four 
sepals,  and  six  stamens,  of 
which  two  are  long.  This 
number  and  arrangement  of 
parts  are  distinctive  of  the 
family  Cruciferae.  The 
leaves  are  of  varied  shapes 
and  the  seed  pods  help  in 
determining  the  species. 
The  white  mustard  has  a  re- 
verse-lance-shaped leaf  that 
is  deeply  lobed,  the  margins 

of  the  lobes  being  toothed.  This  description  fits  the  basal  leaves 
only,  however,  for  the  leaves  on  the  stem  are  mostly  narrow  and 
merely  toothed.  The  flower  cluster  in  all  the  mustards  is  a  termi- 
nal raceme.  In  the  white  mustard  the  flowers  are  a  half-inch 
across.  Its  seed  pod  is  round  and  beaked,  the  beak  often  being 
longer  than  the  rest  of  the  pod.  The  black  mustard  is  a  larger, 
coarser  plant,  growing  from  two  to  six  or  seven  feet  in  height 
and  branching  freely.  The  basal  leaves  are  broad  at  the  outer 
end,  are  narrower  at  the  base,  and  are  deeply  lobed.  The  flowers 
are  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  broad;  the  pods  are  four-angled 


FIG.  237. — Wormwood 


296       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


with  short  and  slim  beaks.  Charlock,  or  field  mustard,  has  lance- 
shaped  leaves;  the  lower  ones  are  lobed;  those  on  the  stem  are 
coarsely  toothed.  The  flowers  are  about  a  half-inch  broad 


b    i 


f 


FIG.  238. — The  common  wild  mustards,  showing  stem,  leaves,  and  pods:  a, 
white  mustard;  b,  charlock;  c,  Indian  mustard;  d,  black  mustard;  e,  hedge 
mustard;  /,  tumble  mustard;  g,  wormseed  mustard. 

and  the  round,  knotty  seed  pods,  which  are  about  two  inches 
long,  are  tipped  with  a  long,  two-edged  beak.  Hedge  mustard, 
one  of  the  commonest,  has  leaves  that  are  wide  at  the  outer  end, 
tapering  toward  the  base,  and  are  deeply  cut.  The  flowers, 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS  297 

which  are  about  an  eighth-inch  broad,  are  found  in  flat-topped 
clusters  at  the  ends  of  the  stems,  which  are  branched  and 
constantly  elongate.  The  pods  are  round,  hairy,  and  pointed, 
about  a  half -inch  long,  and  are  held  close  against  the  stem  of  the 
plant.  Tumble  mustard  has  leaves  that  are  very  much  dissected 
so  that  the  segments  are  almost  linear.  The  stem  is  slender 
and  much  branched;  the  seed  pods  are  needle-like,  two  to  four 
inches  long,  and  contain  many  seeds. 

While  this  mustard  family  is  prolific  of  weeds  it  has  also  given 
us  some  of  our  most  valuable  vegetables;  radishes,  turnips, 
rutabagas,  cabbage,  kale,  Brussels  sprouts,  and  others  all  belong 
to  the  same  genus  as  the  black  and  white  mustard. 

Weeds  are  foreigners. — There  is  given  below  a  table  of  the 
commoner  weeds  already  briefly  described  in  the  text.  It  is 
such  a  table  as  any  child  in  the  upper  grades  might  make  from 
any  good  botanical  key,  such  as  Gray's  Botany.  It  shows  that 
a  few  families  furnish  the  great  bulk  of  the  weeds ;  for  example, 
about  20  per  cent  of  the  given  list  are  composites.  It  shows 
also  how  few  of  our  weeds  are  really  American  and  that  nearly 
all  are  immigrants  from  Europe,  while  a  few  come  from  Asia, 
Central  America,  and  South  America.  This  is  probably  due,  in 
large  measure,  to  the  fact  that  when  an  imported  plant  gets  a 
foothold  in  a  new  country  it  is  growing  where  its  natural  enemies 
do  not  live  and  so  can  make '  tremendous  headway.  A  very 
similar  thing  has  occurred  in  other  lands  besides  America.  The 
water  cress,  the  Englishman's  favorite  salad  plant,  was  trans- 
planted to  Australia  when  the  English  settled  there.  It  took 
so  kindly  to  the  new  quarters  that  it  soon  filled  up  the  rivers  and 
blocked  navigation,  so  that  the  government  was  obliged  to  spend 
large  sums  of  money  to  keep  the  " salad  plant"  dredged  out  of 
the  ship  channels.  Some  of  our  native  American  plants  are 
proving  quite  as  troublesome  to  European  farmers  as  their  plants 
are  to  American  agriculturalists.  Unless  otherwise  indicated 
the  plants  are  native  of  North  America. 


298       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


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302       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Weed  seeds. — In  connection  with  the  study  of  weeds,  pupils 
might  estimate  the  number  of  seeds  produced  by  a  single 
average-sized  plant  of  each  of  the  common  weeds.  If  different 
children  work  on  different  plants  they  will  be  interested  in 
comparing  results.  Only  a  few  different  kinds  of  weeds  may  be 
studied  thus  each  season,  but  if  the  records  are  kept  the  school 
will  have  a  list  of  the  seeding  powers  of  the  common  weeds  of  the 
locality.  Below  is  given  a  tabulation  of  the  number  of  seeds 
borne  by  average-sized  plants  of  the  common  weeds  made  up 
largely  from  estimates  of  the  Kansas  Agricultural  College  and 
the  University  of  Wisconsin  College  of  Agriculture. 

Beggar-tick 10,500  Prickly  lettuce 10,000 

Burdock 24,520  Purslane 69,000 

Cocklebur 9,700  Queen  Anne's  lace 50,000 

Crab  grass 89,600  Ragweed 23,100 

Dandelion. 1,729  Russian  thistle 25,000 

Mullein 31,900  Shepherd's-purse 17,600 

Mustard,  tumble 1,500,000  Sow  thistle 11,000 

Oxeye  daisy 6,750  Tumbleweed 14,000 

Pinkroot. 85,000  Yellow  foxtail 113,600 

Seeds  are  hardy. — Such  a  tabulation  demonstrates  one  of  the 
reasons  why  weeds  are  so  common — they  have  an  inordinate 
capacity  for  reproduction.  The  seeds,  moreover,  are  very  hardy. 
Beal  found  from  actual  experiment  that  seeds  of  chickweed, 
evening  primrose,  mustard,  narrow-leaf  dock,  peppergrass, 
pigeonweed,  pigweed,  purslane,  and  shepherd's-purse  live  after 
being  buried  in  the  ground  for  thirty  years.  This  is  nearly  the 
maximum  of  seed  vitality,  stories  of  the  germination  of  the  grains 
recovered  from  the  pyramids  of  Egypt  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing. Many  weed  seeds,  such  as  those  of  pokeberry,  pass 
uninjured  through  the  intestines  of  the  birds  that  eat  them — 
they  are  so  resistant. 

Methods  of  dispersal. — It  would  be  a  worth-while  project  to 
collect  fruits  of  weeds,  and  of  other  plants  as  well,  to  demonstrate 
the  various  methods  of  seed  dispersal.  Weeds  are  eminently 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS  303 

successful,  not  only  in  protecting  their  seeds,  but  also  in  scattering 
them.  Many  of  them  are  provided  with  appliances  that  fit  them 
for  easy  carriage  on  the  fur  or  feathers  of  animals  or  on  man's 
clothing.  Others  are  made  so  as  to  fly  readily  in  the  air  and  a 
number  of  devices  are  used  to  insure  this,  such  as  the  pappus  of 
the  dandelion  seed,  the  wings  on  the  fruits  of  the  maple  tree  or 
the  ash  tree,  the  parachutes  that  bear  the  linden  nutlets.  Pull 
a  dandelion  fruit  through  the  ringers  as  it  is  gently  held  between 
their  tips  and  feel  the  hooks  upon  its  surface.  It  is  quite  as 
important  that  the  seed  should  finally  anchor  in  some  crevice 
of  the  soil  as  it  is  that  it  should  go  ballooning.  Some  seeds  have 
corky  wings  that  enable  them  to  float  on  the  rivulets  that  follow 
a  rain,  while  some  fall  out  as  the  weed,  broken  from  its  moorings, 
rolls  along  before  the  wind,  bumping  over  the  uneven  ground. 
Then  there  are  some  plants,  like  the  pigweed,  that  hold  their 
seeds  until  snow  comes,  when  the  tiny  seeds  are  driven  over  the 
crusted  surface.  Some  weeds  hurl  their  seeds  to  considerable 
distances,  and  there  are  many  different  devices  for  accomplishing 
this.  -Touch-me-not  uses  a  coiled  spring,  larkspur  a  catapult, 
and  wild  cucumber  a  squirt  gun. 

Stem  propagation. — Ability  to  grow  quantities  of  seed  and  to 
scatter  them  effectually  constitutes  only  two  out  of  the  many 
reasons  why  a  weed  is  able  successfully  to  hold  its  own.  Many 
of  them  propagate  by  underground  stems  or  rootstalks,  which 
live  and  throw  up  new  sprouts  when  the  parts  above  ground 
have  been  cut  off;  often  when  cut  into  bits  this  underground 
stem  lives  and  each  bit  sends  up  its  new  stalk.  Many,  like  the 
dandelion,  have  very  large  roots  that  are  stored  full  of  food 
materials,  so  that,  in  the  spring,  they  can  grow  very  rapidly  and 
get  ahead  of  surrounding  competitors.  Some  spread  out  so 
dense  a  mat  of  foliage  that  they  smother  other  plants  about  them. 
There  are  weeds,  like  the  mullein,  that  wear  fur  coats  to  protect 
them  from  the  inclement  weather,  weeds  whose  leaves  snuggle 
together  to  keep  warm  in  the  cold  spring  nights,  and  others  that 
turn  their  leaves  on  edge  to  avoid  the  too  intense  heat  of  the 


304       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

midday  sun.  In  fact  there  is  scarcely  a  weed  that  is  not  worthy 
of  careful  study  to  discover  the  secret  of  its  success. 

Weed  projects. — It  makes  an  interesting  exercise  to  have 
the  pupils  list  as  many  of  the  characteristics  as  they  can  discover 
in  the  life-histories  of  the  weeds  that  enable  the  plants  to  win 
out  in  the  struggle  for  existence.  Where  does  the  weed  come 
from?  How  do  its  seeds  travel?  Does  the  plant  have  other 
means  of  propagation  ?  Has  it  devices  for  protecting  itself  from 
cold,  rain,  insect  enemies,  intense  heat  ?  How  does  it  pass  the 
winter?  How  long  does  it  live;  for  one  year  only,  two,  or 
several  ?  How  does  it  injure  the  crop  ?  Is  it  poisonous  ?  How 
can  it  be  destroyed  ? 

It  is  a  very  practical  project  to  undertake  the  elimination  of 
weeds  from  a  field  or  lawn.  Paths  may  be  freed  from  weeds  by 
salting  heavily,  which,  however,  kills  all  living  things;  a  little 
pile  of  salt  on  the  center  of  a  dock  plant,  a  dandelion,  or  a  thistle 
kills  it,  but  evidently  the  process  cannot  be  applied  to  large 
areas  that  are  weed-infested.  Some  weeds  are  particularly 
susceptible  to  the  influence  of  poisons.  A  field  of  oats  may  be 
freed  of  mustard  by  spraying  with  a  solution  of  iron  or  copper 
sulphate  (two  pounds  of  the  former  to  the  gallon,  one-eighth  as 
much  of  the  latter),  since  the  poison  runs  off  the  upright  leaves 
of  the  grain  but  sticks  to  the  horizontal  leaves  of  the  weeds.  On 
the  same  principle,  a  lawn  may  be  freed  of  dandelions  by  treating 
it  with  one  pound  of  finely  powdered  ammonium  sulphate  to  the 
square  rod.  Dandelions  may  also  be  killed  by  stabbing  each 
plant  with  a  sharp  stick  wet  in  carbolic  acid,  a  strong  poison. 
These  are  but  samples  of  the  modern  methods  of  weed  elimina- 
tion. School  children  might  do  much  to  aid  in  the  beautification 
of  any  residence  section  by  cutting  and,  when  dry,  burning  the 
weeds  along  roadways  and  in  vacant  lots,  for  the  prevention  of 
weeds  is  easier  than  their  eradication.  The  weeds  that  are 
permitted  to  go  to  seed  in  .fence  corners,  on  waste  lands,  and  other 
out-of-the-way  places  are  a  constant  source  of  trouble,  as  their 
seeds  are  carried  to  the  cultivated  land  near  by.  Weeds  occupy 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS  305 

valuable  space,  rob  crops  of  food,  air,  light,  heat,  and  moisture, 
serve  as  hosts  for  many  fungi  and  noxious  insects,  and  hinder 
cultivation.  The  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  has 
estimated  that  weeds  cause  an  average  loss  of  one  dollar  per 
acre  in  the  cultivated  fields  of  the  United  States.  As  there  were 
somewhat  more  than  478,000,000  acres  under  cultivation  accord- 
ing to  the  census  of  1910,  it  is  evident  that  weeds  need  control. 

A  weed  notebook  is  another  project  that  has  educational 
values  other  than  acquainting  the  pupils  with  the  pernicious 
weeds  of  the  neighborhood.  Specimens  of  the  weeds  are  pre- 
pared and  mounted.  Spread  the  weed,  when  in  blossom, 
between  large  sheets  of  blotting  paper  (sold  under  the  name  of 
botany  or  plant  driers),  being  careful  to  arrange  it  in  as  natural 
a  position  as  possible.  Put  the  sheets  of  paper  with  the  con- 
tained weeds  under  a  board  on  which  is  a  weight  of  twenty  or 
twenty-five  pounds.  Change  the  driers  within  twelve  hours, 
and  again  at  the  end  of  twenty-four  hours,  so  that  the  plants  will 
dry  rapidly,  for  then  they  retain  their  natural  colors.  The 
plants  should  remain  in  press  for  a  week  or  ten  days.  Mount 
the  specimens  on  unruled  paper  in  the  notebook  or  on  large 
sheets  of  regular  botany  mounting  paper  by  touching  a  drop  of 
glue  to  several  points  on  the  back  of  the  specimen  and  then 
laying  it  on  the  paper.  Label  the  sheet  with  the  name  of  the 
plant,  the  date  of  collection,  and  the  locality  from  which  it  was 
obtained. 

Seed  collection. — A  collection  of  weed  seeds  is  a  valuable 
addition  to  the  school  outfit.  Collect  at  least  a  spoonful  of  the 
seed,  well  cleaned,  and  put  it  in  a  small  bottle  which  is  labeled 
with  the  name  of  the  weed.  These  bottles  may  be  kept  in  a 
shallow  box  or  wooden  tray  or  may  be  fastened  to  a  large  card  by 
means  of  string.  It  is  well  to  have  a  collection  of  the  seeds  of 
the  common  crop  plants  also,  such  as  clover,  alfalfa,  turnips,  etc., 
for  comparison.  It  is  surprising  how  distinctive  even  a  tiny 
seed  is;  one  becomes  sufficiently  expert  even  in  a  short  time  to 
tell,  with  the  aid  of  a  simple  lens,  most  of  the  common  weed  seeds 


306       SOURCE  BOOK  Of  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

on  sight.  Beal's  Seeds  of  Michigan  Weeds  or  similar  pamphlets 
help  greatly.  Such  knowledge  is  quite  important  for  the  farmer 
or  gardener,  for  he  uses  it  to  determine  the  purity  of  the  seed  he 
sows.  Obtain  packages  of  seed  or  bulk  seed  from  several  of  the 
seed  houses  and  examine  them,  with  the  collection  for  reference, 
to  see  what  percentage  of  weed  seed  they  contain  and  what  weeds 
are  most  commonly  represented. 

A  weed  garden. — Sow  weed  seeds  in  pots  or  window  boxes, 
and  when  they  grow  press  and  mount  seedlings  of  several  ages 
on  the  sheets  with  the  adult  weeds  so  that  these  seedlings  will 
be  surely  recognized  in  the  garden.  A  neighbor  of  mine  carefully 
transplanted  and  carefully  tended  a  whole  row  of  ragweed 
seedlings  thinking  they  were  cosmos  plants.  A  crop  may  easily 
be  pulled  up  when  weeding  in  the  garden  unless  one  knows  the 
seedlings  well. 

The  teacher  who  is  at  a  loss  to  find  some  plants  to  grow  in  the 
schoolroom  that  will  stand  cold,  neglect,  and  poor  light  will  find 
that  weeds  have  value  after  all.  Transplant  some  half-mature 
dandelion  plants  to  the  school  window  box  in  the  fall;  the 
dandelion  blossom  is  doubly  cheery  indoors  when  the  snow  is  on 
the  fields.  Corn  cockle,  bouncing  Betty,  hound's- tongue, 
butter  and  eggs,  shepherd's-purse,  and  many  others  are  worth  the 
trial.  Such  processes  as  planting  in  flats,  picking  out  and 
transplanting  to  pots,  repotting  and  trimming,  may  be  carried 
out  with  the  weeds  at  no  cost  for  material  and  no  loss  if  materials 
die  in  the  attempts. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY1 

Beal,  W.  J.  Michigan  Weeds.  Michigan  Agricultural  College  Experiment 
Station  (East  Lansing),  Bulletin  No.  267. 

.  Seeds  of  Michigan  Weeds.  Michigan  Agricultural  College  Experi- 
ment Station  (East  Lansing),  Bulletin  No.  260. 

Blatchley,  W.  S.  The  Indiana  Weed  Book.  Indianapolis:  Nature  Pub- 
lishing Co. 

1  Farmers'  bulletins  are  issued  by  the  United  States  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, Washington,  D.C. 


WAYSIDE  FLOWERS  307 

Bliss,  R.  C.     Unlawful  and  Other  Weeds  of  Iowa.    Agricultural  Experiment 
Station  (Ames),  Bulletin  No.  31. 

Gates,  J.  S.     The  Eradication  of  Quack-Grass.     Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  464. 

Chestnut,  V.  K.     Thirty  Poisonous  Plants  of  the  United  States.     Farmers' 
Bulletin  No.  86. 

Coe,  H.   S.     Weeds.     South   Dakota   Agricultural   Experiment    Station 
(Brookings),  Bulletin  No.  150. 

Cox,  H.  R.     Weeds:  How  to  Control  Them.    Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  660. 

Dewey,  I.  H.    Migration  of  Weeds.    United  States  Department  of  Agri- 
culture Yearbook,  1896. 

.     Table  of  200  Weeds.    United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 

Yearbook,  1895. 

.     Twenty-five  Most  Harmful  Weeds.    United  States  Department  of 

Agriculture  Yearbook,  1897. 

Tumbling  Mustard.     United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 


Division  of  Botany,  Circular  No.  6. 
.    Weeds  and  How  to  Kill  Them.    United  States  Department  of 

Agriculture,  Bulletin  28. 
Carman,  H.    Some  Kentucky  Weeds  and  Poisonous  Plants.     Kentucky 

Agricultural  Experiment  Station  (Lexington),  Bulletin  No.  183. 
Georgia,  Ada  M.    Manual  of  the  Weeds.    New  York:  The  Macmillan  Co. 

$2  .  00. 

Henkel,  Alice.     Weeds  Used  in  Medicine.    United  States  Department  of 

Agriculture  Experiment  Station,  Bulletin  No.  188. 
Hillman,  F.  H.    Dodder  in  Relation  to  Farm  Seeds.     Farmers'  Bulletin  No. 

306. 
.     Testing  Farm  Seeds  in  the  Home  and  in  the  Rural  School.     Farmers' 

Bulletin  No.  428. 
Jenkins,  E.  H.    Feeds,  Seeds,  and  Weeds.     Connecticut  Agricultural  Station 

(New  Haven),  Bulletin  No.  161. 
Johnson,  A.  G.    Canada  Thistle  and  Its  Eradication.    Indiana  Agricultural 

Experiment  Station,  Purdue  University  (LaFayette),  Circular  No.  32. 
Kalter,  Grace  M.    The  Weeds  of  the  Miami  Valley.    Miami  University 

(Oxford),  Ohio,  Bulletin  No.  2,  Series  No.  9. 
Kansas    State    Agricultural    College    Experiment    Station   (Manhattan). 

Kansas  Weeds,  Preliminary,  Bulletin  No.  52;  Kansas  Weeds,  Seedlings, 

Bulletin  No.  50;  Kansas  Weeds,  Fruits,  Seeds,  Bulletin  No.  66. 
Marsh,    Clawson,    and    Marsh.    Larkspur    or    Poison    Weed.     Farmers' 

Bulletin  No.  531. 
Morley,  Margaret  W.    Flowers  and  Their  Friends.     Boston:   Ginn  &  Co. 

$0.60. 
.    Seed  Babies.    Boston:   Ginn  &  Co.    $0.30. 


308       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Needham,  James  G.    Natural  History  of  the  Farm.    Ithaca,  N.Y.:   The 

Comstock  Publishing  Co.    $i .  50. 
Pammel,  I.  H.     Weeds  of  Farm  and  Garden.    New  York:  Orange  Judd  & 

Co.    $1.50. 
.    Some  Weeds  of  Iowa.    Iowa  State  College  Experiment  Station 

(Ames),  Bulletin  No.  70. 
Pipal,  J.  F.    Red  Sorrel  and  Its  Control.    Purdue  University  Agricultural 

Experiment  Station  (LaFayette),  Bulletin  No.  197. 
Selby,  A.  D.    Noxious  Weeds  and  Their  Destruction.    Ohio  Agricultural 

Experiment  Station  (Wooster),  Bulletin  No.  59. 
.    Spraying  to  Kill  Weeds.    Ohio  Agricultural  Experiment  Station 

(Wooster),  Circular  No.  102. 
Shaw,  Thomas.    Weeds  and  How  to  Eradicate  Them.    St.  Paul:    Webb 

Publishing  Co. 
.     Weeds  and  Weed  Seeds.     Canada  Department  of  Agriculture 

(Ottawa),  Bulletin  Nos.  3-8. 
Stone,  A.  L.    How  to  Rid  Our  Farms  of  Weeds.    University  of  .Wisconsin 

Agricultural  Experiment  Station  (Madison),  Circular  No.  48. 
TenEyck.    American  Grasses.    Kansas  State  Agricultural  College  Experi- 
ment Station,  Bulletin  No.  175. 
Van  Es  and  Waldron.     Some  Stock  Poisoning  Plants  of  North  Dakota. 

North  Dakota  Agricultural    College    Experiment    Station    (Fargo), 

Bulletin  No.  58. 
Waldron,    J.    R.    Weed   Studies.    North    Dakota    Agricultural    College 

Experiment  Station  (Fargo),  Bulletin  No.  62. 

Weed,  Clarence  M.    Seed  Travellers.    Boston:  Ginn  &  Co.    $0.50. 
.     Ten  New  England  Blossoms.    Boston:    Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 

$1.25. 
Weed  Seeds  in  Manure  and  Weed  Seeds  in  Feeding.     Farmers'  Bulletin 

No.  334. 
Westgate  and  Vinal.    Sweet  Clover.    Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  485. 


CHAPTER  VII 
COMMON  TREES 

Tree  characters. — While  there  are  a  great  many  different  kinds 
of  trees  in  the  United  States,  the  number  of  species  in  any  given 
locality  is  not  very  large.  Even  in  localities  that  are  especially 
favored  probably  not  more  than  fifty  or  sixty  species  are  to  be 
counted,  so  that  it  is  really  not  a  very  great  task  to  learn  to 
recognize  the  common  trees  of  one's  environment;  and  it  adds 
no  small  pleasure  to  one's  daily  life  if  he  is  on  terms  of  speaking 
familiarity  with  these  usual  features  of  the  yards  and  streets. 
When  you  are  introduced  to  a  stranger  you  look  for  some  peculiar 
feature  to  associate  with  the  name;  later,  when  you  come  to 
know  the  person  well,  you  no  longer  need  the  recognition  mark, 
for  you  know  him  by  the  whole  assemblage  of  characteristics 
that  mark  his  personality;  you  recognize  him  at  a  distance,  even 
in  a  crowd.  So  the  woodsman  comes  to  know  his  trees,  even  at 
long  range.  He  cannot  tell  you  how  he  knows  them;  he  just 
knows  them.  This  intimate  familiarity  is  a  desirable  goal  to 
reach,  but  at  first  the  new  student  must  have  some  definite 
earmarks  for  each  tree  so  that  he  can  be  sure  that  he  recognizes  a 
tree  because  it  possesses  these  known  characters.  In  the  pages 
that  immediately  follow,  such  peculiarities  of  tree  form,  leaf, 
bark,  and  twig  characters  are  given  as  will  best  serve  in  the 
identification  of  the  particular  tree.1 

Evergreens. — These  trees  in  the  United  States  are  divisible 
into  a  few  readily  recognized  genera.  All  have  some  characters 
in  common.  They  have  a  habit  of  growth  that  is  peculiar — the 
trunk  of  the  tree  runs  straight  from  base  to  tip  (Fig.  239),  a 
tapering,  unbranched  bole,  and  frequently  the  tree  is  spirelike, 

1  These  characters  are  given  in  key  form  in  the  Field  and  Laboratory  Guide  in 
Biological  Nature-Study. 

309 


310       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


FIG.  239. — The  straight  stem  of  a  conifer 


COMMON  TREES  311 

the  whole  mass  of  it,  from  base  to  apex,  diminishing  ii>  diameter. 
The  branches  spring  from  the  trunk  in  whorls  or,  expressing  it  in 
another  way,  circle  around  the  trunk  at  a  given  level. 

The  differences  between  the  several  sorts  are  easily  expressed 
(Fig.  240).  The  needles  on  the  twigs  are  single,  not  in  clusters, 
except  on  the  pines  and  larches.  The  larch  has  many  needles 
in  the  cluster  so  that  the  branches  seem  furnished  with  many 
little  paint  brushes,  especially  in  the  spring  when  the  buds  are 
bursting.  The  larch  and  the  cypress  are  the  only  evergreens 
that  are  not  always  green;  they  shed  their  leaves  in  the  fall 
and  do  not  renew  them  until  spring.  The  term  "conifers"  is 
therefore  a  better  name  to  use  for  these  trees,  though  in  some  of 
the  conifers,  like  the  yew  and  the  juniper,  the  cone  is  imbedded 
in  a  berry-like  envelope  so  that  this  character  is  obscured. 

The  white  pine. — Even  in  regions  where  the  conifers  are 
abundant  they  are  often  spoken  of  as  "pines,"  an  improper  use 
of  the  term,  since  the  pines  include  only  those  evergreens  in  which 
the  needles  are  found  in  clusters  of  from  two  to  five  and  are  two 
or  more  inches  long,  longer  than  those  of  any  other  conifers.  The 
pine  which  has  been  most  productive  in  the  northern  states, 
yielding  millions  of  feet  of  lumber,  is  the  white  pine,  Pinus 
strobus.  This  is  a  beautiful  tree,  easily  recognized  even  by  the 
novice  on  close  inspection,  for  it  has  five  needles  in  each  cluster. 
Solitary  specimens  are  still  common,  but  "stands"  large  enough 
to  pay  for  cutting  are  now  very  rare,  though  at  one  time  white- 
pine  forests  covered  areas  as  large  as  entire  states. 

Other  pines. — The  pitch  pine,  Pinus  rigida,  common  in  the 
East  and  South,  has  three  needles  in  each  cluster  and  has  much 
resin  in  its  wood.  In  northern  New  England  and  in  Michigan, 
Wisconsin,  and  adjacent  states  the  red  or  Norway  pine,  Pinus 
resinosa,  is  a  characteristic  feature  of  the  landscape.  It  is  a 
towering  tree  with  shapely  head  and  reddish  trunk.  Two 
needles,  more  than  two  inches  long,  are  bound  together  in  its 
clusters.  The  scrub  pines,  both  the  northern,  Pinus  banksiana, 
and  the  eastern,  Pinus  mrginiana,  are  smaller  trees  with  scrawny 


312       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


Juniper 


Hemlock 


FIG.  240. — Twigs  of  the  evergreens,  a  pupil's  drawings 


COMMON  TREES  313 

and  irregular  branches.  They  also  have  two  needles  in  each 
cluster,  but  these  are  short,  less  than  two  inches.  The  northern 
scrub  pine  is  found  in  the  Great  Lakes  region;  the  southern,  in 
New  Jersey,  southern  Indiana,  and  south  of  the  Ohio  River. 

The  spruces  have  the  single  needles  coming  out  all  around 
the  twigs,  so  that  the  latter  appear  cylindrical.  The  white 
spruce,  the  common  species,  is  a  tree  of  large  size,  conical  in 
shape  when  standing  in  the  open. 

The  junipers  have  somewhat  the  same  sort  of  twigs,  but  the 
needles  are  less  regular  in  their  arrangement,  are  very  sharp- 
pointed,  and  are  white  beneath.  Many  of  the  needles  are  turned 
underside  up  and  so  give  the  tree  a  gray-green  color.  The 
junipers  are  all  low  and  shrubby  except  the  so-called  red  cedar. 

The  balsam,  hemlock,  and  yew  all  have  the  needles  arranged 
on  the  opposite  sides  of  the  twig,  giving  it  a  feather-like  appear- 
ance. The  two  former  are  trees,  the  latter  a  scraggy  shrub 
growing  as  underbrush,  usually  in  the  hemlock  forest;  it  produces 
red  slimy  " berries."  The  needles  of  the  balsam  are  three- 
fourths  of  an  inch  in  length,  those  of  the  hemlock  about  half 
an  inch.  The  trunk  of  the  balsam  is  blistered  with  swellings 
that  pour  out  a  sticky  gum  when  punctured. 

The  white  cedar,  or  arbor  vitae,  has  leaves  that  are  in  the  form 
of  overlapping  scales  rather  than  like  needles. 

The  deciduous  trees. — Most  trees  are  not  evergreen,  but 
drop  their  leaves  each  autumn.  Such  are  known  as  deciduous 
trees.  There  are  certain  features  of  the  deciduous  trees  that 
must  be  known  before  we  can  proceed  with  a  discussion  of  their 
characteristics.  Secure  twigs  from  such  trees  as  the  horse 
chestnut,  the  Carolina  poplar,  and  the  ailanthus  in  the  winter 
condition  (Fig.  241).  In  the  first-mentioned  notice  that  the 
twigs  are  opposite,  in  the  others  alternate;  and  what  is  true 
of  the  twigs  is  also  true  of  the  leaf  scars  and  the  leaves.  The 
leaf  scars,  which  mark  the  places  where  the  last  year's  leaves 
were  borne,  are  very  plain  in  any  of  these  trees,  notably  so  in  the 
horse  chestnut  and  the  ailanthus.  In  each  leaf  scar  may  be  seen 


314       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


several  dots,  the  ends  of  the  fibrovascular  bundles  that  carry  sap 
up  to  the  leaf.  These  bundle  scars  are  characteristic  features 
of  many  trees. 

Buds. — The  buds  usually  appear  just  above  the  old  leaf  scars 
or,  as  the  botanist  says,  in  the  axils  of  the  leaves.  The  bud  at 
the  end  of  the  twig  is  called  the  terminal  bud,  while  those  along 
the  sides  are  the  lateral  buds.  Customarily  only  one  bud  appears 
at  each  axil,  but  some  trees,  like  the  maples,  have  extra  ones,  and 

these  are  called  supernumer- 
ary buds.  Sometimes  buds 
appear  at  irregular  places, 
other  than  those  noted,  and 
such  are  designated  adventi- 
tious buds.  These  buds  are 
likely  to  lie  dormant  under 
ordinary  conditions  but  de- 
velop when  the  tree  is  cut 
back  or  sometimes  near 
points  of  injury.  It  would 
be  well  for  pupils  to  see  these 
features,  to  make  sketches  of 
twigs,  and  to  fix  such  points 
in  mind. 

It  is  worth  while  having 
pupils  study  individual  buds 
and  watch  their  unfolding  in  the  spring  (Fig.  242).  Select  large 
buds  for  such  study,  like  those  of  lilac,  horse  chestnut,  or  hickory. 
Note  that  the  bud  is  covered  with  overlapping  scales  that  are 
laid  on  with  a  definite  arrangement.  Is  there  any  relation 
between  the  arrangement  of  these  bud  scales  and  that  of  the 
leaf  scars  and  twigs  ?  What  is  to  be  found  within  the  scales  ? 
As  they  are  picked  off  lay  them  in  a  row  on  a  sheet  of  paper. 
What  do  you  conclude  that  the  bud  scales  really  are  ?  Do  you 
find  the  same  things  inside  of  all  buds?  Do  you  see  what 
advantage  these  bud  scales  can  be  to  the  plant  ?  Feel  the  buds 


FIG.  241. — Twigs  of  horse  chestnut, 
Carolina  poplar,  and  ailanthus. 


COMMON  TREES  315 

of  the  horse  chestnut,  the  pine,  and  the  sumac.  How  can  the 
things  you  discover  serve  the  buds  ?  Watch  a  bud  unfold  and 
make  sketches  of  it  at  several  stages.  Into  what  does  the  bud 
grow  ?  Cut  down  through  a  bud  and  look  at  the  cut  surface. 
Cut  down  through  an  onion  or  a  crocus  bulb  and  compare  it  with 
the  cut-open  bud. 

Deciduous  Trees  with  Opposite  Branches 

The  deciduous  trees  are  divisible  into  two  groups:    those 
having  opposite  leaves  and  twigs  and  those  having  alternate 


FIG.  242. — The  unfolding  of  the  horse  chestnut  bud 

leaves  and  twigs,  and  the  latter  group  will  be  still  further  sub- 
divided to  facilitate  identification  of  those  trees  encountered 
whose  identity  is  not  known  by  the  pupil.  It  must  not  be 
expected  that  all  twigs  and  leaves  will  be  opposite,  even  on  the 
trees  supposed  to  have  this  characteristic,  for  not  infrequently  a 
bud  dies  or  a  leaf  is  killed;  many  twigs,  however,  will  be  seen 
to  be  opposite,  enough  to  indicate  that  the  opposite  method  of 
branching  is  normal  for  the  particular  tree.  The  ashes,  maples, 
the  horse  chestnut,  and  the  flowering  dogwood  have  such  oppo- 
site twigs.  All  other  common  deciduous  trees  have  alternate 
twig  and  leaf  arrangement  except  the  catalpa. 

The  catalpa  also  often  appears  to  have  an  opposite  arrange- 
ment, but  its  leaf  scars  usually  occur  three  at  a  node  or  joint. 


316       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

The  bundle  scars  in  the  leaf  scar  are  arranged  in  an  ellipse. 
The  leaf  is  large,  heart-shaped,  and  taper-pointed,  and  the  long 
seed  pods  hang  on  the  tree  much  of  the  year. 

The  horse  chestnut  is  readily  told  by  its  prominent  leaf  scars 
(Fig.  241),  its  glistening  buds  sticky  with  protecting  gum  (Fig. 
242),  and  by  its  palmately  compound  leaf.  Since  the  term 
compound  leaf  must  be  used  constantly  it  will  be  well  to  stop  to 
explain  it.  The  usual  leaf  consists  of  the  blade  or  the  thin 
expanded  portion  and  the  petiole  or  stalk;  and  sometimes  there 


FIG.  243. — Palmately  compound  leaf  of  horse  chestnut  at  left;    pinnately 
compound  leaf  of  ash  at  right. 

are  present  a  pair  of  leaflike  expansions  at  the  base  of  the  stalk, 
the  stipules.  The  blade  of  the  leaf  may  have  an  entire  edge  or 
it  may  be  cut  more  or  less  deeply  into  numerous  lobes  or  divisions; 
these  divisions  may  run  nearly  to  the  midrib  and  the  leaf  still 
be  a  simple  leaf.  If,  however,  the  leaf  consists  of  several  or 
many  small  leaflets  attached  to  the  petiole  or  to  the  midrib,  the 
leaf  is  compound.  These  leaflets  may  spread  out  from  the 
central  petiole  as  the  fingers  do  from  the  palm  of  the  hand,  when 
the  leaf  is  said  to  be  palmately  compound;  or  the  leaflets  may  be 
arranged  on  either  side  of  the  midrib,  when  it  is  pinnately 
compound  (Fig.  243). 


COMMON  TREES  317 

The  common  horse  chestnut  usually  has  seven  leaflets  in  its 
compound  leaf  while  the  buckeye  has  fewer,  though  some  of  the 
leaves  of  the  latter  may  have  seven. 

The  maples  all  have  simple  leaves  except  the  ash-leaved  maple 
or  box  elder.  The  ash  trees  all  have  pinnately  compound  leaves 
(Fig.  243).  There  are  three  distinct  bundle  scars  in  the  leaf  scar 
of  a  maple;  many  bundle  scars  arranged  in  a  U  in  the  leaf  scar 
of  the  ash.  The  maple  buds  are  smooth,  the  ash  buds  are  hairy. 
The  maple  fruit  consists  of  two  winged  seeds  or  keys  that  are 
attached  together,  the  ash  fruit  is  a  single  key  (Fig.  244). 

The  Norway  maple  and  the  box  elder  are  readily  distinguished 
from  the  other  maples  because  their  opposite  leaf  scars  meet, 
encircling  the  twig,  and  there  is  a  tooth  at  the  points  of  juncture. 
The  Norway  maple  has  a  simple 
leaf  and  reddish  bark  on  the 
twigs;  the  box  elder  has  a  pin- 
nately compound  leaf  and  green 
bark  on  the  twigs. 

The  hard  or  sugar  maple  (Fig. 
245)  has  few  teeth  on  the  leaf  and 
the  notch  between  the  principal    ^G.  244._Fruits  of  ash  and  maple 
lobes  is  U-shaped.     Its  terminal 

buds  are  brown.  The  soft  maple  and  the  red  maple  have  V-shaped 
notches  between  the  lobes  of  the  leaf  and  the  teeth  along  the  mar- 
gin are  numerous.  The  terminal  twigs  of  the  red  maple  are  red ; 
young  leaves — and  the  old  leaves  in  autumn  color — are  red.  The 
buds  of  the  sycamore-leaved  maple  are  green  and  the  leaves  are  so 
like  those  of  the  sycamore  that  they  are  very  characteristic. 

The  striped  and  mountain  maples  are  usually  encountered  as 
shrubs  rather  than  as  trees.  The  conspicuous,  longitudinal,  pale- 
green  stripes  on  the  bark  of  young  stems  and  twigs  easily  dis- 
tinguish the  former,  while  the  white  down  on  the  terminal  twigs 
and  the  buds  of  the  latter  distinguish  it. 

The  ash  trees  seem  partial  to  color  terminology.  The  white 
ash  has  leaf  scars  that  have  a  concave  upper  border.  The  black 


318       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

ash  is  the  only  one  that  has  sessile  leaflets;  that  is,  its  leaflets  have 
no  stems  but  cling  closely  to  the  midrib  of  the  leaf.  Its  bark  is 
not  deeply  furrowed  but  scaly  and  has  the  feel  of  talcum  powder. 
Its  buds  are  black.  The  blue  ash  has  four-sided  twigs.  The  red 
ash  has  branchlets  and  petioles  that  are  velvety  with  fine  hairs. 
In  the  flowering  dogwood  the  upper  buds  are  covered  with  the 
persistent  bases  of  the  leaf  stalks  even  in  winter.  In  spring  the 
tree  is  a  mass  of  white.  The  clusters  of  inconspicuous  flowers  are 


FIG.  245. — A  sugar  maple  grove 

surrounded  by  four  white  bracts  which  give  the  tree  the  appear- 
ance of  being  covered  with  great  white  blossoms  (Fig.  246).  The 
leaf  is  a  characteristic  dogwood  leaf,  ovate,  with  entire  margin 
and  conspicuous  veins  that  parallel  each  other  as  they  run  out 
from  the  midrib.  The  bark  on  older  trunks  is  so  checked  off  into 
blocks  by  cracks  that  it  has  the  appearance  of  alligator  skin. 

Deciduous  Trees  with  Alternate  Branches 

I.   THOSE  KNOWN  BY  BARK  CHARACTERS 

The  poplars. — The  trees  with  alternate  branches  are  a 
numerous  tribe.  However,  in  all  there  is  some  peculiarity  that 
enables  one  to  easily  distinguish  them  on  brief  examination. 


COMMON  TREES  319 

Some  are  most  readily  known  by  the  character  of  the  bark.  The 
poplars  all  have  smooth,  yell6wish-green  bark;  although  the 
bark  of  the  trunk  may  alter  with  age,  that  of  the  branches  will 
still  show  the  distinguishing  character.  There  are  several 
poplars.  That  one  most  universally  known,  about  the  cities  at 
least,  is  the  imported  Lombardy  poplar,  recognized  readily  by 
its  slender  shape  (Fig.  247).  The  Carolina  poplar,  or  cotton- 


FIG.  246. — Blossom  clusters  of  flowering  dogwood 

wood,  is  one  of  the  hardiest,  growing  under  conditions  that 
would  effectually  discourage  any  other  tree.  It  is  a  large  tree 
with  broadly  triangular  leaves  whose  stems  are  laterally  flattened. 
On  young  twigs  ridges  run  down  the  bark  from  the  leaf  scars; 
these  are  particularly  plain  on  the  new  shoots  or  suckers  arising 
at  the  base  of  the  tree.  The  buds  are  long  and  generous  in  size. 
Three  other  poplars  also  have  such  very  flat  petioles  or  leaf 
stems  that  the  leaves  tremble  in  the  least  wind.  One  has  leaves 
whose  undersides  are  covered  with  white  hairs,  as  are  also  the 


320       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

young  branches,  so  that  the  tree  has  a  glistening  appearance, 
especially  when  breezes  stir  and  turn  the  leaves.  This  is  the 
white  or  silver-leaved  poplar.  Its  trunk  is  usually  roughened  by 
scars  on  the  bark,  like  brownish  mouths  with  swollen  lips.  The 
small-toothed  aspen  is  also  one  of  these  tremulous  poplars.  Its 
leaves  are  heart-shaped  and  are  edged  with  fine  sharp  teeth;  its 


FIG.  247. — Lombardy  poplars 

bud  scales  are  smooth.  The  large-toothed  aspen  has  larger 
leaves  with  teeth  that  are  coarse  and  rounded;  its  bud  scales 
are  hairy. 

The  other  poplars  (Fig.  248)  have  petioles  that  are  squarish 
in  section,  or  channeled,  but  flattened  little  if  at  all.  In  the 
downy  poplar  the  young  leaves  and  petioles  are  covered  with 
white  hair.  The  balsam  poplar  has  large  buds  covered  with 
copious  fragrant  gum.  The  balm  of  Gilead  is  similar  except  that 
the  petiole  and  the  lower  surface  of  the  leaf  are  hairy.  Some 


COMMON  TREES 


321 


authorities  make  no  distinction  between  these  two,  calling  both 
the  balsam  poplar  or  the  balm  of  Gilead.  It  is  said  that  during 
the  Crusades  the  wounded  knights  used  the  gum  from  the  buds 
of  such  trees  growing  near  Gilead  in  the  Holy  Land  to  anoint 
their  wounds  and  found  it  a  very  healing  remedy;  hence  the  tree 
acquired  its  name. 

The  willows  (Fig.  249)  have  yellowish-green  bark  also,  but 
their  leaves  are  narrow  and  their  twigs  are  slender  and  sleek, 
which  gives  the  tree  a  graceful  carriage,  while  poplars  stand 


FIG.  248. — White  poplars  as  a  wind  shield 

stiffly  erect.  Willows  are  difficult  to  distinguish  unless  leaf,  blos- 
som, and  fruit  can  be  had,  and  since  the  differences  can  scarcely 
be  briefly  described  the  interested  student  is  referred  to  the  key 
in  the  Field  and  Laboratory  Guide  in  Biological  Nature-Study. 

The  birches  are  readily  known  by  their  bark,  which  peels  off 
in  layers.  As  the  fibers  of  the  bark  run,  for  the  most  part, 
around  the  tree,  the  bark  layers  peel  off  circularly  and  not  in 
longitudinal  strips.  The  outer  layers  of  the  bark  tend  to  loosen 
in  the  fall  so  that  the  tree  is  usually  shaggy  through  the  early 
winter.  The  Indians  used  these  shaggy  trees  as  signal  trees 


322       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

because,  when  lighted,  the  fire  runs  rapidly  up  the  trunk,  making 
a  brief  but  brilliant  torch,  and  usually  leaves  the  tree  none  the 
worse  for  its  singeing. 

The  white  or  gray  birch  has  a  chalky  white  bark  with  tri- 
angular black  patches  under  the  branches.  The  paper  or  canoe 
birch  is  similar  but  is  free  from  these  black  marks.  The  leaves 


FIG.  249. — A  black  willow 

of  the  former  are  square  across  the  base  as  if  cut  off  with  shears, 
while  those  of  the  latter  are  rounded  and  tapering  at  the  base. 
The  canoe  birch  does  not  branch  near  the  ground  when  growing 
in  the  forest;  it  therefore  affords  a  long  clean  trunk  which,  when 
stripped,  yields  a  large  strong  sheet  of  bark  free  from  holes.  The 
yellow  or  gray  birch  has  a  yellow  or  silvery  gray  bark  that  peels 
in  thin  filmy  layers,  while  the  bark  on  the  two  preceding  birches 
comes  off  in  fairly  thick  sheets.  The  sweet,  black,  or  cherry  birch 


COMMON  TREES 


323 


has  twigs  and  bark  that  are  very  fragrant  and  are  aromatic  to  the 
taste.  The  bark  looks  more  like  that  of  a  black  cherry  than  it 
does  like  the  other  birches. 

Cherry  trees. — The  young  birches  appear  very  like  the  cherry 
trees,  since  the  reddish  outer  bark  of  the  birch  does  not  begin  to 
peel  off  and  show  the  characteristic  lighter  bark  until  the  tree 
is  two  or  three  inches  in  diameter.  The  cherry  trees  also  have 
bark  that  peels  off  in  layers  around  the  trunk,  except  in  the  case 
of  the  black  cherry  (Fig.  250), 
and  the  bark  is  also  reddish 
brown.  The  lenticels  or 
breathing  pores  of  the  cherry 
are  more  conspicuous  than 
those  of  the  birch;  the  edges 
are  rough  and  turn  back,  while 
those  of  the  birch  look  more 
like  light-brown  lines  in  the 
reddish-brown  bark  of  the 
young  trees  or  in  the  whitish 
bark  of  the  old  trees.  The 
cherries  may  also  be  known 
by  the  bitter  taste  of  the 
bark  and  the  buds.  The  wild 
black  cherry  is  exceptional  in 
bark  character,  for  its  bark  is  rough,  broken  up  into  irregular 
polygonal  blocks  on  the  older  trees.  The  cherries  are  readily 
distinguished  from  the  wild  plum,  with  which  they  have  many 
characters  in  common,  by  the  absence  of  the  terminal  buds 
on  the  twigs  of  the  plum.  In  the  wild  red  cherry  the  buds 
are  clustered  at  the  tips  of  all  shoots;  its  flowers  are  also 
clustered,  the  stems  of  the  separate  blossoms  springing  from  a 
common  point.  The  choke  cherry  lacks  the  clustered  buds  and 
the  blossoms  are  found  in  long  racemes,  clusters  in  which  the 
individual  blossoms  spring  from  a  central  elongated  stem.  The 
fruit  is,  of  course,  borne  in  similar  clusters. 


FIG.  250. — Trunk  of  the  black  cherry 


324       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

The  sycamore  is  another  tree  easily  distinguished  by  its 
peculiar  bark.  The  trunk  has  a  mottled  appearance,  especially 
in  the  older  trees,  the  dark-brown  bark  flaking  off  and  exposing 
patches  of  the  white  or  yellowish-green  inner  bark.  The  round 
fruits,  which  look  like  balls  an  inch  in  diameter,  often  hang  from 
the  tree  through  the  winter.  They  give  the  tree  its  name  of 
button  tree.  It  is  also  known  as  the  plane  tree,  because  the  bark 


FIG.  251. — Trunks  of  the  hackberry  and  the  beech  (at  right) 

peels  off  in  such  large  flat  plates.  The  sycamore  is  notable  for 
its  great  size  and  is  the  largest  deciduous  tree  that  we  have.  A 
specimen  standing  near  Richmond,  Indiana,  in  the  White  River 
Valley,  has  a  circumference  at  five  feet  from  the  ground  of  forty- 
two  feet  three  inches. 

The  hackberry  is  readily  known  by  its  bark  (Fig.  251),  which 
is  roughened  by  longitudinal  corky  ridges  that  stand  out  very 
conspicuously  and  are  made  up  of  numerous  superimposed  layers 
that  show  clearly  when  the  bark  is  cut.  In  general  shape  it  is 


COMMON  TREES  325 

much  like  the  elm;  its  leaves  are  somewhat  like  those  of  the  elm, 
too,  but  are  lopsided  at  the  base.  The  tree  grows  with  fair 
rapidity,  more  rapidly  than  the  elm,  is  free  from  parasites  and 
insect  pests,  and  is  very  attractive  to  the  birds.  These  are 
characters  that  make  it  eminently  desirable  as  a  shade  tree. 

The  walnuts  are  stamped  by  trunk  peculiarities;  the  bark  is 
conspicuously  ridged,  but  the  ridges  subdivide  and  run  into  each 
other,  like  a  series  of  interlacing  switch  tracks,  inclosing  many 
diamond-shaped  areas  that  are  so  numerous  and  regular  as  to 
attract  attention.  The  twigs  of  the  walnuts  are  coarse  and  the 
pith  is  chambered  (Fig.  252)  or 
divided  into  numerous  compart- 
ments by  thin  cross-partitions. 
_.  ,.  ,  ,  ,  ,  FIG.  252.— A  walnut  twig  to  show 

The  black  walnut  has  a  much     the  chambered  pith. 
darker  bark  than  the  white  wal- 
nut or  butternut,  and  the  former  has  gray  buds  while  the  latter 
has  brown.     The  nut  of  the  former  is  round;   of  the  latter, 
elliptical. 

The  hickories  also  have  coarse  twigs  and  the  pith  is  chambered, 
but  only  at  the  nodes  or  joints,  while  the  pith  of  the  walnuts 
is  chambered  throughout  their  length.  The  shagbark  hickory  is 
usually  conspicuous  because  of  the  exceedingly  shaggy  character 
of  the  bark,  which  tends  to  scale  off  in  curly  plates.  The  other 
hickories  have  bark  that  is  gray  and  more  or  less  ridged,  but  not 
deeply  like  the  walnuts.  Shagbark  buds  have  two  conspicuous 
outstanding  brown  scales.  The  bitternut  hickory  has  bright 
yellow  buds  that  are  glandular.  The  buds  of  the  pignut  are 
small;  its  twigs  are  slender  and  smooth.  The  mockernut 
hickory  is  somewhat  like  the  last,  but  it  has  larger  buds,  the 
terminal  buds  a  half -inch  long  or  nearly  so ;  they  are  oval,  covered 
with  close,  yellowish-brown,  downy  scales.  The  twigs  are  stout. 

The  water  beech,  or  hornbeam,  has  a  trunk  that  is  irregularly 
fluted  (Fig.  253)  and  is  seldom  circular  in  outline.  The  bark  is 
smooth  and  gray.  The  leaves  are  ovate  to  oblong,  pointed  and 
sharply  toothed,  looking  considerably  like  those  of  the  beech. 


326       SOURCE  BOOK  OP  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


The  tree  seldom  grows  large  and  is  often  only  a  shrub  in 
proportion.  The  true  beech  has  a  smooth,  light-gray,  unfluted 
trunk  and  bears  small  triangular  nuts  (Fig.  251). 

The  ironwood,  or  hop  hornbeam,  is  a  small  tree  with  brownish 
furrowed  bark,  much  like  that  of  a  white  cedar,  which  breaks 
into  numerous  narrow  longitudinal  strips  that  are  free  at  the 
ends  and  peel  off  in  long  narrow  strips.  The  wood  of  the  tree 

is  exceedingly  hard.  The 
leaves  resemble  those  of  the 
birch. 

2.     TREES  WITH  ALTERNATE  TWIGS, 
KNOWN  BY  THEIR  FORM 

Certain  trees  are  of  such 
characteristic  shape  that  they 
are  known  largely  by  their 
form.  The  elm  is  one  of  the 
best  examples  of  these  —  its 
vase  or  umbrella  shape  is 
familiar  to  every  observant 
person  (Fig.  254).  The  Amer- 
ican or  white  elm  is  the  best 
known  of  all  the  elms.  Mag- 
nificent specimens  of  it  afe 
to  be  found  in  many  com- 
munities. So  far  as  is  known  the  largest  specimen  of  the  species  is 
growing  at  Wethersfield,  Connecticut,  and  has  a  circumference  of 
twenty-seven  feet  one  inch.  Some  of  these  trees  stand  as  monu- 
ments of  historic  events,  like  the  Washington  elm  at  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts,  under  which  General  Washington  took  command 
of  the  American  army  in  Revolutionary  days.  The  red  elm  or 
slippery  elm  is  not  likely  to  be  so  graceful  a  tree  and  its  top  does 
not  have  so  perfect  a  shape.  It  blossoms  much  earlier  in  the 
spring  and  its  buds  are  hairy,  while  those  of  the  white  elm  are 
smooth.  WThen  the  twigs  or  inner  bark  of  the  red  elm  are  chewed 
they  make  a  slippery  mass  in  the  mouth,  a  delight  to  the  small 


FIG.  253. — Trunk  of  water  beech 


COMMON  TREES 


327 


boy.     The  leaves  of  the  two  are  somewhat  unlike  in  form,  and 
those  of  the  red  elm  are  coarser  and  harsher  in  texture. 

The  oaks  are  usually  recognized  by  their  shape  quite  as  well 
as  by  the  form  of  the  leaf  or  their  well-known  fruit,  for  the  lower 
branches  are  given  off  from  the  trunk  at  so  nearly  a  right  angle 
that  the  tree  has  a  particularly  sturdy  appearance  (Fig.  255). 
Because  it  is  difficult  to  make  an  accurate  determination  of  the 


FIG.  254. — An  American  elm 

various  kinds  of  oaks  without  having  leaves  and  acorns  at  hand 
there  is  given  herewith  a  series  of  sketches  of  the  leaves  and  acorns 
of  the  commoner  kinds  that  will  help  in  their  identification  (Fig. 
256).  Usually  the  acorns  are  to  be  found  on  the  ground  under 
the  trees  even  if  there  are  none  on  them  at  the  time  of  examina- 
tion, so  that  they  are  easy  to  secure. 

The  pepperidge,  sour  gum,  or  tupelo,  is  another  tree  that  is 
known  by  its  general  habit.    The  trunk  usually  runs  straight  to 


328       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

the  top,  as  it  does  in  the  pines,  and  does  not  break  up  into  many 
smaller  branches,  as  in  the  elm.  (The  tree  is  excurrent,  not 
deliquescent.)  The  branches  are  horizontal  or  the  lower  ones 
even  drooped,  and  the  slender  twigs  are  so  numerous  that  they 
appear  crowded.  There  are  woody  partitions  in  the  pith,  best 
seen  with  the  hand  lens,  that  confirm  the  determination.  The 


FIG.  255. — A  white  oak 


thick,  firm,  glossy  green  leaves  are  obovate  or  oblong  in  shape, 
are  usually  acute  at  both  ends,  and  have  entire  margins. 

The  ginkgo,  or  maidenhair,  tree  also  has  a  trunk  that  runs 
straight  to  the  top.  Its  lower  branches  may  be  horizontal  or 
even  declined,  but  the  upper  ones  rise  at  an  angle  of  about  forty- 
five  degrees.  The  leaf  is  very  peculiar  (Fig.  257),  unlike  that  of 
any  other  tree.  The  raised  leaf  scars  are  semioval  and  the  upper 
margin  is  usually  fringed ;  there  are  only  two  bundle  scars.  These 
are  sufficiently  clear  characters  to  make  determination  possible 
even  when  the  tree  is  not  in  leaf. 


FIG.  256. — Leaves  and  acorns  of  the  oaks:  a,  red  oak  (Quercus  rubra)',  b,  pin 
or  swamp  oak  (Q.  palustris}\  c,  northern  pin  oak  (Q.  elipsoides);  d,  scarlet  oak 
(Q.  coccinea);  e,  black  oak  (Q.  velutina);  f,  white  oak  (Q.  alba);  g,  bur  oak  (O. 
macrocarpa)]  h,  blackjack  (Q.  marylandica);  i,  swamp  white  oak  (Q.  bicolor); 
7,  chinquapin  oak  (Q.  Muhlenbergii);  k,  shingle  oak  (Q.  imbricaria) ;  /,  basket  oak 
(Q.  Michauxi}. 


330       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


3.      TREES   WITH  ALTERNATE  BRANCHES,   TOLD  BY  TWIG  CHARACTERS 

Trees  that  are  to  be  told  by  their  twig  characters  as  well  as 
by  their  leaf  peculiarities  form  a  large  part  of  those  usually 
encountered. 

The  tulip  tree  is  most  easily  known  when  it  is  in  foliage,  since 
the  tip  of  the  leaf  is  truncate  or  square-cut.  When  not  in  leaf 
the  oblong,  flattened  terminal  buds  and  the  circular,  elevated 
leaf  scars,  flanked  with  stipule  scars  that  encircle  the  stem,  are 
distinguishing  characters. 

The  sassafras  leaf  is  a  peculiar  one,  mitten-like  in  outline. 
The  leaf  scar  has  only  one  bundle  scar,  quite  a  unique  character. 

The  twigs  of  the  tree  are  green- 
ish or  reddish  green,  and  so 
certainly  flavored  with  the  sas- 
safras taste  that  one  need  only 
chew  them  to  be  sure  of  the 
tree.  Usually  the  growth  is  of 
shrublike  proportions,  or  if  the 
tree  is  of  good  size  there  are 
many  young  shoots  starting  up 
under  the  old  tree. 

The  linden  is  one  of  a  number 
of  trees  that  do  not  have  termi- 
nal buds  on  the  twigs,  which, 
therefore,  cannot  grow  straight 
out,  but  develop  in  a  zigzag  course.  One  may  easily  be  deceived 
in  this;  for  the  last  lateral  bud  may  have  almost  a  terminal 
position,  though  it  does  not  stand  on  the  very  apex  of  the  twig. 
The  buds  are  two-ranked  on  the  linden,  that  is,  they  occur  on 
opposite  sides  of  the  twig,  not  opposite  to  each  other  but  alter- 
nate. They  are  distinctly  mucilaginous  when  chewed.  If  the 
tree  is  in  foliage  the  large  thin  leaf  with  serrate  edge  and  lopsided 
base  is  a  feature  that  allows  no  doubt  as  to  the  identity  of  the 
tree.  Often  the  peculiar  woody  fruits,  about  the  size  of  peas, 
cling  to  the  tree  even  into  the  winter.  Usually  several  of  these 


FIG.  257. — Ginkgo  leaf 


COMMON  TREES  331 

fruits,  each  with  its  own  stalk,  are  borne  on  one  end  of  a  stem 
the  other  end  of  which  is  fastened  to  a  lance-shaped  bract  (Fig. 
258),  as  the  handle  is  inserted  into  an  umbrella.  It  is  aptly 
designated  a  parachute  fruit,  for  when  the  cluster  loosens  its 
hold  upon  the  tree  it  sails  away  on  air  currents  for  some  distance 
before  it  strikes  the  ground. 

The  other  trees  in  which  the  absence  of  the  terminal  bud  is  a 
helpful  distinguishing  feature,  but  which,  unlike  the  linden,  have 
pinnately  compound  leaves,  are  the  ailanthus,  the  Kentucky 
coffee  tree,  both  the  black  and  honey  locusts,  the  redbud,  and 
the  sumacs.  The  locusts  and 
the  redbud  have  slender  twigs, 
but  the  others  of  the  group  have 
coarse  stubby  twigs. 

The  locusts  are  usually  suffi- 
ciently marked  by  the  presence 
of  thorns  together  with  the 
characters  mentioned  above. 
In  the  black  locust  (Fig.  259)  the 
thorns  are  found  in  pairs  at  the 
nodes;  in  the  honey  locust  they  Fio.  258.-Linden  fruit 

are  branched  and  are  found  not 

only  singly  at  the  nodes  but  also  in  clusters  on  the  trunks.  If  the 
thorns  are  absent,  as  is  sometimes  the  case,  the  bud  characters 
serve  to  identify,  as  there  are  several  buds,  in  a  longitudinal  row, 
at  each  node.  The  buds  on  the  black  locust  are  minute,  rusty, 
and  downy  and  are  inclosed  in  a  cavity  of  like  character;  those 
on  the  honey  locust  are  usually  under  the  bark,  except  the  top 
one  of  the  row,  and  can  be  seen  only  by  cutting  the  twig  longi- 
tudinally through  the  one  or  two  visible  buds.  The  fruit  on 
both  locusts  is  a  pod;  that  on  the  black  is  two  to  four  inches  long, 
flat,  dark  brown,  and  persists  through  the  winter;  the  ones  on 
the  honey  locust  are  ten  to  eighteen  inches  long  (Fig.  260),  flat, 
brown,  and  more  or  less  twisted.  In  the  spring  both  locusts 
have  clusters  of  fragrant  blossoms  shaped  like  those  of  a  pea. 


33* 


SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


The  redbud  is  covered  with  red  blossoms,  also  pealike  or 
papilionaceous,  before  the  .leaves  appear  in  the  spring.  These 
flower  buds  are  present  as  characteristic  features  in  the  winter; 
a  cluster  of  them  grows  at  the  base  of  each  little  branchlet  and 


FIG.  259. — A  black  locust 

there  are  often  scattered  clusters  even  on  the  trunk.     The  pith 
of  the  redbud  is  streaked  with  red,  a  feature  that  identifies  it. 

The  Kentucky  coffee  tree  has  salmon-colored  pith.  The  buds 
are  silky,  bronze  in  color,  and  are  partially  sunken  in  downy 
dimples  in  the  bark.  The  trunk  of  the  tree  is  marked  by  thin 
•corky  ridges,  like  flat  strips  of  thin  brown  paper,  that  inclose 


COMMON  TREES 


333 


polygonal  depressions.  The  pods  are  large,  four  to  ten  inches 
long  by  one-and-a-half  to  two  inches  wide,  and  contain  good-sized 
beans  that  are  very  hard. 

The  ailanthus  has  large  heart-shaped  leaf  scars  with  several 
conspicuous  bundle  scars  in  a  curved  line;  together  with  the 
stubby  twigs  and  grayish  bark  they  make  it  impossible  to  confuse 
the  tree  with  any  other. 


*  FIG.  260. — Persistent  pods  on  a  honey  locust 

The  staghorn  sumac  has  leaf  scars  that  almost  encircle  the 
long  buds.  The  terminal  twigs  are  hairy  like  a  stag's  horns  "in 
the  velvet."  Some  of  the  reddish-brown  fruits,  in  conelike, 
erect  clusters,  usually  stay  on  some  of  the  trees  in  a  clump  during 
part  of  the  winter.  The  smooth  sumac  is  similar  except  that  the 
twigs  are  covered  with  bloom  rather  than  with  hairs,  like  the 
surface  of  a  purple  plum.  The  poison  sumac  has  the  terminal 
bud.  Its  leaf  scars  are  large,  conspicuous,  and  triangular,  with 
the  base  of  the  triangle  up.  It  is  a  shrub  rather  than  a  tree, 


334       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

seldom  reaching  twenty  feet  in  height;  but  it  needs  to  be  known 
that  it  may  be  avoided  when  in  the  woods,  for  it  is  more  poisonous 
than  its  near  relative,  the  poison  ivy.  It  is  a  tree  of  the  swamps. 
The  best  treatment  as  also  for  poison  ivy  is  prompt  washing 
with  thick  soap  lather. 


FIG.  261. — Cattle-trimmed  hawthorns 


4.      TREES   WITH   ALTERNATE   BRANCHES,   KNOWN   BY   THEIR 
CONSPICUOUS   THORNS 

The  prickly  ash,  osage  orange,  and  hawthorn,  in  addition  to  the 
locusts,  have  thorns  that  are  very  conspicuous  features.  The 
prickly  ash,  usually  encountered  as  a  shrub  rather  than  a  tree, 
is  likely  to  be  confused  with  the  young  black  locust.  The 
pungent  flavor  of  its  twigs  and  the  absence  of  the  row  of  buds  at 
the  node  distinguish  it.  Like  the  black  locust,  it  has  a  pair 
of  *short  thorns  or  prickers  at  each  node.  The  Osage  orange  has 
a  pair  of  thorns  at  each  node  also,  but  they  decrease  in  size  toward 


COMMON  TREES  335 

the  ends  of  the  branches  while  those  on  the  locust  and  prickly 
ash  are  uniform.  The  pistillate  trees  bear  the  large  rounded 
masses  of  seeds  that  give  the  name  of  orange  to  the  tree;  these 
hang  on  for  much  of  the  winter. 

Like  the  locusts,  the  hawthorns  are  sometimes  found  without 
thorns  upon  them,  but  usually  sharp  thorns  are  upon  the  trunk 
of  the  tree  as  well  as  on  the  twigs  in  the  leaf  axils.  The  tree  is 
usually  small,  the  buds  are  spherical  and  reddish,  and  the  bark 
is  gray  or  reddish  and  somewhat  shredded.  The  leaves  are 
simple,  of  varied  shapes,  but  mostly  ovoid.  The  white  blossoms 
are  borne  in  umbels  and  when  in  full  bloom  the  trees  are  beautiful. 
The  fruits  are  tiny  apples,  red  or  brown,  yellow  or  green,  differing 
in  color  in  different  species.  They  are  found  under  the  trees  for 
some  time  after  they  fall  and  are  an  easy  means  of,  identification. 
The  hawthorns  stand  trimming  well  and  are  therefore  .valuable 
as  hedge  plants;  even  in  nature  they  frequently  afe  Jtrimmed  into 
fantastic  shapes  in  the  pastures  when  the  tender  tips  of  the 
twigs  are  eaten  off  by  cattle  (Fig.  261). 

5.      TREES    WITH    ALTERNATE    LEAVES   BEST   RECOGNIZED   BY  THEIR  FRUITS 

The  sweet  gum  bears,  most  of  the  winter,  some  of  its  peculiar 
fruits — rough,  stalked  bells,  an  inch  or  two  in  diameter.  The 
tree  also  has  strikingly  peculiar  twigs.  After  the  first  year's 
growth  corky  ridges  develop  on  them  similar  to  those  on  the  cork 
elm  or  the  bur  oak  (Fig.  262).  If  in  foliage,  the  tree  may  be 
easily  recognized  by  the  leaf,  with  its  five  spreading  points. 

The  witch-hazel  is  another  tree,  more  often  found  as  a  shrub, 
that  bears  distinguishing  fruits.  The  seed  pods,  which  persist 
on  the  tree  long  after  the  seeds  are  discharged,  are  two-chambered 
capsules  with  bases  surrounded  by  the  persistent  dry  calyx  and 
mouths  that  are  wide-spreading  when  the  capsules  are  empty 
(Fig.  263).  These  seed  cases  fly  open  with  a  sudden  snap  when 
they  are  ripe,  hurling  the  seeds  to  a  considerable  distance;  it 
is  an  interesting  experience  to  be  bombarded  by  the  witch-hazel. 
If  the  unopened  seed  pods  are  taken  home  in  the  early  fall  and 


336       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


left  on  the  table  or  mantle  the  chances  are  that  one  will  see  or  at 
least  hear  some  of  them  as  they  open  and  discharge  the  seeds. 
The  leaf  scars  on  the  witch-hazel  are  inverted  brown  triangles 
with  whitish  bundle  scars.  The  buds  are  borne  on  stalks. 

The  tag  alder,  or  black  alder,  also  has  the  stalked  buds  and 
it  too  is  distinguished  by  its  persistent  fruits.  The  old  seed  cases 
look  like  brownish  cones,  a  half-inch  long,  and  they  remain  on 
the  tree  until  after  the  new  green  fruits  are  formed  (Fig.  264). 


FIG.  262. — Sweet  gum,  branches  and  fruit 

The  bark  is  like  that  of  a  cherry  or  young  birch  and  the  leaves  are 
quite  like  birch  leaves.  It  is  a  very  common  tree  along  stream 
and  swamp  margins. 

The  shad  bush,  or  Juneberry,  is  usually  a  shrub  from  ten  to 
twenty  feet  high,  but  at  times  it  grows  to  tree  proportions.  The 
older  stems  are  grayish  brown  and  seamed  with  shallow  longi- 
tudinal cracks,  while  the  slender  young  stems  are  grayish  green 
or  brown.  The  buds  are  very  slender.  The  leaves  are  elliptical 
to  oval,  with  saw-toothed  edges  and  acute  tips.  The  berry-like 


COMMON  TREES 


337 


FIG.  263.— Witch-hazel  fruit 


fruit  is  red,  but  later  turns  dark  as  it  becomes  very  ripe,  and  it  is 
then  quite  delicious.  The  tree  is  also  known  as  the  service  berry 
or  sugarplum. 

The  mountain  ash  is  a  tree  commonly  known  by  its  fruit. 
The  great  clusters  of  berries  are  green  at  first,  later  yellow,  and 
finally  bright  red,  lasting  for 
the  winter  or  until  they  are 
eaten  by  the  birds.  The  leaf 
is  pinna tely  compound;  the 
bark  is  yellow  brown  with  con- 
spicuous horizontal  breathing 
pores.  The  dark  purplish-red 
terminal  buds  are  large,  over 
half  an  inch  long,  and  the 
point  is  curved,  making  them 
sufficiently  distinctive  to  serve  alone  as  a  means  of  identification 

of  the  tree.  While  not  ordinarily 
large  it  is  ornamental  throughout 
the  year. 

The  wild  crab  is  a  low  tree,  ten 
to  thirty  feet  high,  that  grows  in 
impenetrable  thickets ;  it  is  covered 
in  the  spring,  as  the  leaves  are 
appearing,  with  its  wonderful  pink 
blossoms.  The  branches  are  very 
irregular  and  are  almost  thorny 
with  the  numerous  fruit  spurs. 
By  the  end  of  May  the  young 
apples  are  formed,  and  from  then  until  late  fall  they  mark  the 
tree  with  an  easily  recognized  character.  They  are  green,  an 
inch  or  more  in  diameter  when  full-grown.  After  they  have 
fallen  they  lie  all  winter  in  profusion  on  the  ground  under  the 
trees;  not  until  they  have  frozen  and  thawed  repeatedly  are 
they  soft  enough  for  food,  nor  are  they  palatable.  In  the  spring, 
when  softened,  blue  jays  and  squirrels  feast  upon  them. 


FIG.  264. — Twig  of  the  tag  alder 


338       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

The  mulberry  is  a  small  tree,  fifteen  to  forty  feet  high,  with  a 
spreading  crown.  The  trunk  breaks  low  into  several  very 
crooked  branches  so  that  the  general  effect  is  that  of  an  apple 
tree.  If  the  leaves  are  on  the  tree  their  very  varied  shapes 
distinguish  it  at  once;  no  better  illustration  is  to  be  had  of  the 
variability  in  the  parts  of  an  organism  (Fig.  265).  The  bark  is 
dark  reddish  brown.  The  twigs  show  a  milky  juice  when  cut. 
The  leaf  scars  are  two-ranked,  circular  or  nearly  so,  and  the 


FIG.  265. — Mulberry  leaves,  all  from  one  tree,  showing  the  great  variation 
in  leaf  form. 

bundle  scars  are  raised.  The  terminal  bud  is  absent.  The  red 
mulberry  has  dark-margined  bud  scales  on  its  shiny  green  to 
brown  buds,  which  measure  one-fourth  inch  long.  The  buds  of 
the  white  mulberry  are  not  shiny  and  are  smaller,  only  one- 
eighth  inch  long.  The  fruit  is  somewhat  like  a  raspberry,  red 
in  the  one  and  white  in  the  other  species,  and  is  a  favorite  food 
of  the  birds. 

Methods  of  tree-study. — It  is  suggested  that  pupils  be 
required  to  make  drawings  of  the  trees,  their  leaves,  fruits,  twigs, 
and  trunks.  It  is  surprising  how  much  even  the  younger  pupils 


COMMON  TREES  339 

will  get  out  of  this  sort  of  work.  Take  the  class  out  to  some 
selected  tree  that  stands  in  the  open  and  therefore  shows  its  shape 
and  characters  well.  Let  each  pupil  be  provided  with  a  block 
of  drawing  paper  and  a  soft  pencil.  Seat  the  class  around  the 
tree,  a  hundred  feet  or  more  away  from  it,  as  the  pupils  become 
confused  with  details  when  too  near.  Then  just  ask  them  to 
make  a  drawing  of  the  tree.  Probably  many  of  them  will  object, 
saying  they  cannot  draw;  this  is  particularly  true  of  the  older 
pupils,  who  feel  that  unless  they  have  had  drawing  lessons  it  is  a 
hopeless  task.  But  all  you  are  asking  them  to  do  is  to  make  some 
marks  on  paper,  and  surely  any  pupil  can  do  that.  The  difficulty 
is  that  they  do  not  know  where  to  make  the  marks,  but  that  is 
overcome  by  studying  the  object.  At  the  outset  they  need 
simply  to  draw  an  outline  showing  the  shape  and  proportions  of 
the  tree.  For  the  purposes  of  tree-study  it  is  just  as  well  to  let 
the  pupils  blunder  ahead,  insisting  that  they  make  some  attempt 
to  do  what  you  are  asking  them.  Then  go  around  from  pupil 
to  pupil  asking  them  suggestive  questions  such  as  these:  How 
wide  is  the  tree  as  compared  with  its  height  ?  How  far  up  the 
tree  are  the  first  branches  as  compared  with  its  height  ?  If  the 
pupils  will  hold  themselves  to  seeing  such  features  before  they 
express  on  paper  what  they  see  you  will  find  that  they  will  make 
fairly  accurate  studies  of  the  general  outline  of  the  tree  without 
much  difficulty.  A  drawing  is  an  expression  of  facts  or  of  ideas, 
and  the  pupil  must  have  the  fact  in  mind  before  he  attempts  to 
express  it  (Fig.  266). 

Suggestions  on  drawing  trees. — After  the  trees  have  been 
drawn  in  outline  ask  the  pupils  to  stand  up  in  a  circle  facing  in 
and  to  hold  the  drawings  in  front  of  them  so  that  each  member 
of  the  class  may  see  all  the  drawings.  The  moderately  suc- 
cessful sketches  will  then  help  all  pupils  to  see  how  it  can  be  done. 
Keep  these  drawings  and  the  next  day  make  the  exercise  include 
not  simply  the  general  shape  of  the  tree  but  also  filling  in  the 
trunk  and  branches  and  the  general  mass  of  the  foliage.  The 
latter  of  course  is  not  to  be  done  in  detail  but  merely  shaded  in. 


340        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


You  will  find  the  pupils  filling  in  the  trunk  from  top  to  bottom 
and  adding  branches  in  their  entirety,  although  the  foliage  really 
hides  the  greater  part  of  them.  Again  insist  that  they  draw 


FIG.  266. — A  hard  maple  (a  pupil's  drawing) 

only  what  they  see,  and  when  you  have  pointed  out  to  one  or  two 
pupils  that  they  cannot  see  the  trunk  which  they  have  drawn 
they  will  all  realize  their  mistake  and  proceed  to  look  more 
closely.  Perhaps  some  one  pupil  in  the  class  will  see  that  the 
tree  is  not  equally  shaded,  but  is  dark  on  one  side  and  light  on 


COMMON  TREES  341 

the  other,  that  the  sky  is  visible  through  the  mass  of  the  tree  in 
spots,  and  that  there  are  areas  of  light  and  shade  in  the  mass  of 
the  foliage.  Commend  such  keen-eyed  pupils  and  show  the 
drawings  to  all  members  of  the  class.  If  the  drawing  teacher 
can  be  induced  to  help  in  this  work  it  will  be  an  advantage, 
provided  she  does  not  embarrass  the  pupils  by  too  great  insistence 
on  technique. 

Drawing  a  means  of  expression. — The  little  child  uses  pencil 
and  paper  as  a  means  of  expression  and  does  not  hesitate  to  draw 
anything  that  comes  to  mind.  Old  Mother  Hubbard  is  shown 
going  to  the  cupboard,  and  the  child  shows  the  bare  shelves  inside 
of  the  closed  cupboard  and  feels  no  guilt  at  faulty  technique. 
It  is  to  be  feared  that  in  our  attempt  to  create  the  technique  we 
have  made  the  pupil  so  conscious  of  his  inability  that  we  have 
checked  his  natural  tendency  to  use  drawing  as  a  means  of 
expression.  The  teacher  must  try  to  develop  accuracy  and  skill, 
but  by  expression,  not  repression.  The  nature-study  teacher 
will  do  well  to  try  her  own  hand  at  the  drawing  task  which  she 
sets  her  pupils,  and  if  her  drawing  turns  out  the  worst  of  the 
lot  it  will  not  be  surprising  but  will  be  an  encouragement  to 
the  pupils.  It  may  be  that  she  needs  to  learn  to  see  accurately 
quite  as  much  as  any  of  the  class.  Leaf,  fruit,  twig,  and  bark 
characters  that  are  distinctive  may  be  sketched  by  the  pupils  to 
fix  in  mind  characteristic  features. 

Name  the  trees. — The  suggestions  given  in  the  preceding 
pages  will  help  both  student  and  teacher  to  name  the  common 
trees  of  the  neighborhood,  and  that  is  the  first  step  in  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  trees.  There  is  given  at  the  end  of  the 
chapter  also  a  key  to  the  common  trees  which  will  help  determine 
the  genus  by  easily  observed  characters.  Then  the  more  detailed 
descriptions  of  the  text  will  enable  the  pupil  to  identify  the 
common  species.  The  key  is  used  through  the  courtesy  of  the 
Government  Forestry  Department,  in  one  of  whose  bulletins, 
Jackson's  Forestry  in  Nature  Study,  it  appeared.  When  one  has 
learned  to  recognize  individual  trees  with  certainty  because  of 


342        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

some  specific  character,  he  will  soon  come  to  know  the  trees  in  a 
way  that  will  not  depend  on  any  single  characteristic.  Form 
and  habit  of  growth,  color  and  peculiarities  of  foliage,  bark 
characters  and  location,  all  will  appeal  in  definite  ways  and 
identify  what  one  names  with  certainty  without  perhaps  knowing 
just  how. 

A  tree  map. — It  is  a  very  excellent  scheme  in  starting  tree- 
study  to  begin  with  the  trees  in  a  definitely  circumscribed  area. 
It  may  seem  quite  a  task  to  learn  the  trees  of  the  neighborhood, 
but  if  some  single  portion  be  taken — the  school  grounds,  the 
courthouse  yard,  or  a  block  bounded  by  definite  streets — the 
pupils  will  attack  such  a  small  problem  with  a  great  deal  of  zest. 
It  is  always  well  to  try  to  present  the  nature-work  in  the  form  of 
such  small  problems.  Let  the  pupils  draw  a  map  of  the  area, 
showing  streets,  sidewalks,  and  lots,  and  then  locate  the  trees  by 
dots.  All  of  the  trees  of  the  same  sort  may  be  numbered  alike, 
the  names  of  the  trees  being  given  in  an  alphabetical  list  at  one 
corner  of  the  sheet.  It  may  be  that  there  are  to  be  found  only 
four  or  five  different  kinds  of  trees  in  the  given  area,  but  after 
the  pupils  have  determined  them  with  some  degree  of  certainty 
a  second  area  with  more  unknowns  upon  it  may  be  attacked,  and 
soon  the  pupils  will  come  to  have  confidence  in  their  ability  to 
hunt  down  an  unknown  tree  for  themselves,  as  well  as  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  commoner  trees. 

Collections. — Another  excellent  aid  to  tree-study  is  the 
preparation  of  collections  of  leaves,  fruits,  and  sections  of  tree 
trunks.  Leaves  or  sprays  of  leaves  are  best  obtained  in  the 
spring,  before  they  have  been  whipped  to  pieces  by  winds  or 
disfigured  by  the  depredations  of  insects.  They  may  be  pressed 
between  sheets  of  blotting  paper,  or  in  lieu  of  these  an  old  maga- 
zine may  be  taken  out  on  the  collecting  trips  and  the  leaves 
inserted  between  its  pages.  It  is  well  to  label  the  specimen  at 
once  by  inserting  with  the  specimen  a  slip  of  paper  bearing  its 
name  if  that  is  known  or  the  location  of  the  tree  if  it  must  be 
identified  later.  The  sheets  of  blotting  paper  or  the  magazine 


COMMON  TREES  343 

should  be  put  under  a  heavy  weight  to  press  the  specimens  out 
smoothly.  The  specimens  should  be  carefully  spread  before 
putting  them  into  press  and  at  the  end  of  twelve  hours  or  so  they 
should  be  transferred  to  dry  papers,  for  if  this  is  not  done  the 
specimens  will  blacken  instead  of  drying  in  their  natural  colors. 
It  may  be  well  to  change  them  a  second  time  in  the  course  of 
twenty-four  hours,  especially  if  the  leaves  are  at  all  thick. 

Mounting  specimens. — Such  leaf  specimens  may  be  mounted 
on  the  unruled  pages  of  an  ordinary  notebook  or,  better  still,  in 
a  loose-leaf  notebook.  A  still  better  way,  however,  is  to  mount 
the  specimens  on  a  large  sheet  of  gray  cardboard  and  later  collect 
the  blossoms,  bark,  and  fruit  and  mount  them  on  the  same  card. 
The  blossoms  should  be  pressed  in  the  same  way  as  the  leaves. 
It  may  be  a  revelation  to  many  pupils  to  find  that  trees  have 
blossoms;  we  are  familiar  with  the  conspicuous  tree  blossoms, 
such  as  the  pussies  of  the  willow,  the  handsome  blossoms  of  the 
catalpa  or  the  magnolia,  but  many  trees  have  inconspicuous 
blossoms  and  their  discovery  will  repay  patient  observation. 

The  fruits  of  many  of  the  trees  are  dry  and  may  be  pressed 
in  much  the  same  way  as  the  leaves  and  blossoms.  Some  fruits, 
like  the  acorns,  will  need  to  be  only  collected  in  the  fall  and 
fastened  to  the  card.  In  some  cases,  where  the  fruits  are  soft 
and  berry-like,  they  will  need  to  be  preserved  in  a  small  bottle 
in  some  preserving  fluid.  Five  or  6  per  cent  formaldehyde  is 
good,  since  it  will  preserve  the  color  of  the  fruit.  Alcohol  is  very 
likely  to  extract  the  color.  The  formalin  obtained  at  the  drug 
store  is  a  40  per  cent  solution  ordinarily  and  will  need  to  be 
diluted  with  five  or  six  times  its  bulk  of  water.  The  small  vials 
of  fruit  or  the  large  dry  fruits  may  be  attached  to  the  card  by 
means  of  fine  wire  or  thread;  the  pressed  leaves  and  flowers  may 
be  attached  by  touching  their  back  surfaces  with  glue  at  a 
number  of  points  and  then  placing  the  sheets  under  light  pressure 
until  the  glue  has  hardened.  Enough  of  the  bark  can  be  stripped 
off  of  some  dead  trunk  or  limb  to  afford  a  good  specimen.  If  this 
is  moistened  it  can  be  pressed  out  flat  without  breaking,  and  the 


344        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

specimen  may  be  attached  to  the  card  with  fine  wire.  The  cards 
for  mounting  should  be  of  uniform  size  and  fairly  large,  say 
fifteen  by  twenty-two  inches.  Such  displays  of  the  trees  of 
the  neighborhood  may  be  hung  up  on  occasions  about  the 
schoolroom  and  make  effective  decorations.  Ordinarily  they 
should  be  kept  in  a  cupboard  or  cabinet,  where  they  can  be 
readily  referred  to  and  still  not  be  exposed  to  dust  and  too  great 
wear  and  tear. 

The  tree  notebook. — Pupils  may  collect  smaller  samples  of 
leaves,  blossoms,  and  bark  to  press  and  mount  in  their  notebooks, 
and  the  bulky  fruits  may  be  sketched  rather  than  mounted.  It 
is  well  worth  while  for  the'pupils  to  prepare  books  which  may  be 
made  of  loose  leaves,  both  ruled  and  unruled,  and  fitted  with  a 
cover  of  brown  paper  (Fig.  267).  Tree  sketches  and  leaf  and 
fruit  mounts  are  made  on  the  unruled  paper;  notes  on  the  trees, 
brief  descriptions,  distinguishing  characters,  locations,  abstracts 
of  readings,  are  written  upon  the  ruled  paper;  the  cover  may  be 
decorated  with  an  appropriate  design.  Such  a  tree  book  may  be 
carried  from  grade  to  grade  and  become  a  very  interesting  and 
instructive  student  product  or  the  tree  booklet  may  be  considered 
as  one  chapter  of  the  general  nature-study  notebook. 

Collections  of  woods. — It  will  be  found  valuable  to  make  a 
collection  of  woods  of  the  neighborhood  to  show  their  characters. 
Cut  a  two-foot  length  from  the  tree  trunk  where  the  diameter  is 
great  enough  to  show  the  character  of  the  mature  bark;  saw 
this  in  half  lengthwise,  then  plane  off  and  sandpaper  a  half  of  this 
surface  and  oil  and  varnish  a  portion  of  the  smoothed  surface  so 
as  to  show  the  wood  in  the  rough,  smoothed,  and  finished  states. 
A  half  of  the  end  of  the  specimen  may  be  smoothed  and  finished 
in  the  same  way,  and  if  the  other  end  be  cut  diagonally  at  an 
angle  of  forty-five  degrees  this  surface,  when  smoothed  and 
finished,  will  show  the  grain  of  the  wood  more  effectively  than 
any  other  portion.  Such  specimens  may  easily  be  prepared  by 
the  boys  in  the  manual-training  shops  or  by  pupils  at  home, 
and  if  each  boy  prepares  only  one  such  specimen  it  will  bring 


COMMON  TREES  345 

together  a  valuable  addition  to  the  school  collection,  especially 
if  the  work  be  continued  year  after  year. 

Uses  of  common  woods.— Such  preparation  of  specimens  will 
lead  the  pupils  to  an  appreciation  of  the  properties  of  the  various 


FIG.  267. — A  student's  title-page 

woods  and  to  a  discussion  of  their  uses.  It  is  a  matter  of 
common  knowledge  that  oak  lumber  is  used  for  furniture,  maple 
for  flooring,  and  hemlock  for  rough  lumber,  but  the  average 
individual  knows  little  more  about  the  uses  of  woods;  and  yet 
hardly  any  one  of  the  trees  growing  in  the  locality  has  not  some 


346       SOURCE  BOOK. OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

use  in  the  arts.  If  the  pupils  will  inquire  of  their  parents  they 
can  find  out  many  of  the  uses  of  the  common  woods,  and  the 
encyclopedias  or  the  books  given  in  the  bibliography  of  this 
chapter  will  help  them  to  look  up  the  uses  that  the  neighborhood 
may  not  know.  Our  grandparents  knew  more  of  these  things 
when  they  were  forced  to  manufacture  many  articles  that  we  buy 
at  the  nearby  store. 

Woods  in  furniture. — It  makes  an  interesting  exercise  to  have 
the  pupils  try  to  name  the  woods  to  be  found  in  the  various 
articles  of  furniture  about  the  schoolroom  and  homes.  It  is  a 
matter  of  practical  concern  that  we  should  know  something  of 
the  woods  that  are  used  in  furniture  and  be  able  to  recognize 
them;  otherwise  we  may  readily  be  inveigled  into  buying  cheap 
woods  that  are  finished  to  imitate  the  real  thing  and  pay  ridicu- 
lous prices  for  cheap  articles.  The  beauty  of  furniture  is  due 
quite  as  much  to  the  way  in  which  wood  is  cut  as  it  is  to  the 
character  of  the  wood  used.  Thus  "  quarter-sawed  "  oak  is  much 
more  beautiful  than  is  the  ordinary  straight-sawed  oak  because 
of  the  display  of  the  grain.  Let  some  pupil  find  out  what  is 
meant  by  "quarter-sawed."  Many  of  our  finer  woods  are  too 
valuable  to  be  made  into  solid  furniture.  The  furniture  of  our 
grandparents'  time  was  often  solid  black  walnut  or  mahogany, 
but  nowadays  we  achieve  quite  as  beautiful  results  by  the 
use  of  veneer.  Let  some  of  the  older  pupils  find  out  how  veneer 
is  cut  and  how  it  is  applied.  What  are  the  cheaper  woods 
that  are  used  as  the  backing  for  veneer  ?  The  manner  of  cut- 
ting makes  veneer  more  beautifully  grained  than  even  the  solid 
wood,  so  that  furniture  of  today  is  probably  more  attractive 
than  it  ever  has  been,  as  far  at  least  as  the  beauty  of  the 
wood  is  concerned. 

Lumbering. — In  connection  with  this  work  in  nature-study 
the  teacher  may  take  up  with  the  pupils  the  history  of  the  log 
from  its  cutting  in  the  forest  to  its  use  in  the  manufactured 
article.  Such  articles  on  lumbering  as  those  suggested  in  the  list 
of  books  in  this  chapter  will  give  the  pupils  a  clear  notion  of  the 


COMMON  TREES  347 

lumbering  processes  and  of  the  romantic  life  of  the  men  who  start 
the  forest  products  on  the  way  to  our  doors. 

How  the  tree  grows. — One  of  the  questions  that  is  sure  to 
come  up  in  connection  with  the  graining  of  woods  is  the  problem  of 
the  growth  of  the  tree  and  how  it  comes  about  that  the  wood  is 
arranged  in  concentric  layers.  When  the  shoot  of  the  germinat- 
ing seed  first  appears  above  the  ground  it  is  made  up  of  soft  tissue 
which  easily  breaks.  We  are  familiar  witfy  the  shoots  of  aspara- 
gus, which  are  so  tender  and  crisp  that  they  break  if  bent.  The 
tree  shoot  does  not  grow  as  tall  as  marketable  asparagus  before 
it  begins  to  be  strengthened  by  the  development  of  fibrous 
elements  which  are  necessary  to  any  plant  that  is  going  to  stand 
up  successfully  against  the  storms  and  the  strains  of  its  ordinary 
environment.  Even  the  asparagus  shoot  is  strengthened  in  this 
way  before  it  is  very  old,  and  ordinarily  the  basal  part  of  the  shoot, 
as  we  buy  the  asparagus  in  the  market,  is  quite  tough  and  fibrous. 

Plant  cells. — This  tissue  that  is  constantly  being  formed 
during  the  growth  of  the  plant,  as  in  fact  any  growing  portion 
of  a  living  thing,  is  made  up  of  tiny  bits  of  living  material,  each 
inclosed  more  or  less  perfectly  in  a  wall.  These  building  units 
are  called  cells,  a  term  that  is  rather  unfortunate,  for  it  suggests 
a  walled-in  space,  while  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  animal  or  plant 
cell  is  never  such  unless  it  is  dead.  It  is  a  viscid  mass  of  living 
material  called  protoplasm,  the  outer  part  of  which  is  differen- 
tiated into  the  wall.  These  cells  are  ordinarily  crowded  close 
together  so  that  the  spherical  form  is  readily  changed  to  that  of 
a  solid  bounded  by  flat  faces.  Plant  cells  are  very  small,  usually 
not  over  a  five-hundredth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  the  animal 
cells  are  still  smaller.  They  may  be  seen  under  an  ordinary 
linen-tester  in  some  tissues  in  which  they  are  very  large,  as  the 
basal  part  of  the  hair  on  the  stamens  of  spiderwort  flowers  or  in 
the  rapidly  growing  shoots  of  elderberry.  But  it  takes  a  power- 
ful microscope  to  give  a  very  good  view  of  them. 

How  fibers  form. — In  the  rapidly  growing  shoots  some  of  these 
cells  adhere  in  strings  and  their  adjacent  walls  give  way,  so  that 


348       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

the  chain  of  cells  comes  to  be  a  long  fiber.  The  walls  of  this 
fiber  thicken  and  grow  tough  and  thus  the  strengthening  elements 
are  formed.  Bundles  of  such  fibers  are  laid  down  in  the  soft 
tissues,  and  in  all  our  trees  of  the  temperate  zone  these  fiber 
bundles  are  laid  down  in  a  circle  with  the  center  of  the  stem  as  its 
center.  The  fiber  bundles  run  chiefly  up  and  down  the  stem 
(Fig.  268). 

Fibrovascular  bundles.  —  In  any  rapidly  growing  shoot  the 
upper  end  is  necessarily  somewhat  far  removed  from  the  roots, 

which  are  busy  absorbing  water 
and  raw  food  stuff  from  the 
ground.  The  roots,  in  turn,  are 
far  away  from  the  leaves,  which 
are  also  absorbing  crude  plant 
from  the  air.  There  must 


\  \  '  L   [  T  v/    y   i1-  i  '  ' 

..."    •    ,-,  '  -cp.   -T-^v-^     needs  be  some  means  of  trans- 


FIG.  268.— Longitudinal  section     f erring  these  substances  from 

of  a  stem  (partial),  showing  bundle      Qne          t  of  ^     Jant  to  another 
of  developing  fibers  and  vessels  in  .  .  . 

embryonic  tissue.  and  so>  m  connection  with  the 

fibers,  there  develop  conductive 

vessels,  formed  in  a  very  similar  way,  and  these  bundles  of  fibers 
and  vessels  are  known  as  the  fibrovascular  bundles. 

Rings  of  growth. — The  cross-section  of  a  young  growing  stem 
shows  the  soft  tissue  of  the  stem,  with  a  ring  of  these  fibro- 
vascular bundles,  also  seen  in  cross-section,  imbedded  in  it. 
The  fibers  of  the  bundle  are  chiefly  on  the  side  of  the  bundle 
toward  the  bark,  while  the  vessels  are  more  numerous  on  the 
inner  side,  and  the  two  portions  are  separated  by  a  layer  of 
the  softer  tissue.  The  bundles  grow  larger  until  they  squeeze 
the  soft  tissue  between  them  into  strands  and  flakes.  There  is 
thus  formed  an  outer  ring  of  material  that  is  largely  fibrous  and 
an  inner  ring  largely  vascular  or  woody  and  between  the  two  a 
soft  layer  known  as  the  cambium  layer;  these  three  rings  of 
tissue  surround  a  cylinder  of  soft  tissue  at  the  center  of  the  stem. 
Such  is  the  condition  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  of  growth.  The 


COMMON  TREES 


349 


following  spring  the  cambium  layer  increases  very  greatly  in 
thickness  and  in  it  new  fibrovascular  bundles  appear  which 
run  through  the  same  course  as  those  of  the  first  year,  so  that 
there  is  added  to  the  outside  of  the  forming  wood  cylinder  a  new 
wood  layer  and  to  the  inside  of  the  bark  a  new  bark  layer  (Fig. 
269).  As  this  occurs  year  after  year  the  wood  of  the  trunk  in- 
creases in  thickness;  the  bark  would  do  so  too,  but  the  bark 
layers  are  added  to  the  inside  of  the  old  bark,  which  must  crack 


FIG.  269. — Left-hand  figure,  cross-section  of  ash  stem  (Bulletin  No.  299, 
Department  of  Agriculture) ;  right-hand  figure,  part  of  the  cross-section  of  a  larch 
stem  (United  States  Forest  Service,  Bulletin  No.  122). 

in  order  to  make  room  for  the  new;   its  outer  layers  become  so 
broken  that  they  easily  weather  off. 

The  whistle  layer. — The  spring  increase  in  the  thickness  of 
this  cambium  layer  makes  possible  the  whistle,  made  from  the 
willow  or  poplar.  Making  such  a  whistle  is  an  experience  every 
child  should  have.  In  early  spring  cut  from  a  twig  a  piece  three 
inches  long  and  as  big  around  as  the  middle  finger;  select  a  piece 
that  is  free  from  buds  or  branches.  Cut  one  end  off  diagonally, 
as  shown  in  the  sketch,  and  also  cut  a  notch  near  this  end  through 
the  bark  and  well  into  the  wood.  With  a  sharp  knife  cut  through 
the  bark  with  a  circular  cut  near  the  other  end  and  then  lay  the 


350       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


twig  down  on  something  firm  and,  holding  the  knife  by  the  blade, 
pound  the  bark  of  the  twig  all  over.  This  breaks  up  the  cambium 
layer,  and  when  the  bark  is  so  loosened  it  may  be  twisted  X)ff  as  a 
cylinder.  Cut  the  inner  wood  cylinder  as  shown  in  the  sketch 
(Fig.  270),  moisten  it,  and  slip  the  bark  back  on.  The  whistle 
should  be  ready  for  use. 

Age  of  a  tree. — Under  ordinary  conditions  a  layer  of  wood  is 
formed  each  year.  The  wood  laid  down  in  the  spring  is  relatively 
coarse,  since  growth  is  very  rapid  and  the  vessels  are  large. 
Toward  fall,  however,  growth  is  slow  and  the  vessels  formed  are 
much  smaller.  Thus  the  annual  layers  are  differentiated  from 

each  other,  being  porous  on  one  side 
and  much  denser  on  the  other.  Thus 
the  cut  end  of  a  tree  trunk  shows 
distinct  rings.  If  a  cold  spell  comes 
in  the  middle  of  the  summer,  or  if 
other  adverse  conditions  prevent 
.  the  customary  rate  of  growth,  two 
layers  may  be  differentiated  in  a 
single  season.  It  follows,  therefore, 
that  the  number  of  rings  on  a  tree 
stump  do  not  indicate  the  absolute 
age  of  the  tree,  but  in  temperate 
America  the  age  estimated  in  this 

way  probably  does  not  differ  from  the  correct  age  by  more  than 
5  per  cent. 

Local  forests. — In  the  upper  grades  it  would  seem  advisable 
that  the  study  of  the  local  trees  should  be  followed  by  a  study  of 
local  forestry  conditions.  Such  a  local  study  will  demonstrate 
what  part  of  the  particular  region  is  woodland  and,  in  most  parts 
of  the  Middle  West  at  least,  it  will  demonstrate  how  little  wood- 
land there  really  is.  Let  a  map  be  drawn  of  the  township  in 
which  the  school  is  located  and  on  the  map  show  the  wooded 
areas.  It  may  take  considerable  inquiry  to  find  out  just  where 
the  forests  are  located  and  how  extensive  they  are,  but  usually 


FIG.  270. — Diagrams  of  wil- 
low twig  showing  the  way  it  is 
cut  to  make  a  whistle. 


COMMON  TREES  351 

owners  will  furnish  the  information  on  request  and  the  county 
tax  assessor  or  register  of  deeds  will  willingly  help  to  locate 
doubtful  areas. 

Our  forest  wealth. — It  would  be  well  if  this  local  study  could 
be  extended  to  embrace  the  whole  country  so  as  to  give  the 
pupils  an  appreciation  of  the  problem  of  forest  conservation 
which  confronts  us.  Originally  we  had,  in  round  numbers, 
nearly  a  billion  acres  of  forest-covered  land  in  the  United 
States;  now  approximately  one-half  of  it  is  gone.  The  largest 
portion  of  what  is  left,  some  two  hundred  million  acres,  is  in  the 
farmers'  wood  lots;  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  million  acres 
is  in  large  private  estates;  the  national  forests  contain  about  a 
hundred  and  sixty- three  million  acres ;  and  the  state  forest  reserves 
another  nine  million  acres.  Michigan,  once  provided  with  as 
magnificent  forests  as  grow,  disposed  of  its  holdings  to  private 
individuals  or  corporations  at  prices  that  now  seem  ridiculous, 
and  the  state  now  owns  only  four  thousand  acres  of  forest  land. 
Much  of  its  original  holdings  were  sold  with  little  thought  of  the 
future,  apparently  almost  squandered  with  lavish  hand.  It  is 
useless  to  discuss  the  wisdom  of  such  a  policy  now,  but  we  must 
be  awake  to  the  fact  that  a  large  part  of  our  national  forest 
inheritance  is  gone,  to  be  recovered,  if  ever,  only  by  intelligent 
policies  of  repurchase  and  conservative  care.  We  cannot  depend 
on  the  ordinary  avaricious  individual  to  subordinate  his  imme- 
diate interests  to  the  future  welfare  of  the  country. 

Our  timber  cut. — We  are  using  our  lumber  much  more  rapidly 
than  any  other  civilized  country.  It  is  estimated  that  we  use 
two  hundred  and  sixty  cubic  feet  per  year  for  every  person  in  the 
United  States;  Germany  uses  thirty-seven  cubic  feet,  France 
twenty-six,  and  Italy  eighteen,  under  normal  conditions.  As 
on  every  acre  of  forest  that  we  own  we  grow  on  an  average  twelve 
cubic  feet  of  wood  a  year  and  we  cut  off  forty  cubic  feet,  it  is 
evident  that  we  are  drawing  heavily  on  our  capital  stock.  More 
than  that,  we  are  careless  in, the  cutting  and  milling  of  our 
lumber;  five-eighths  of  the  lumber  cut  in  the  forest  is  destroyed 


352        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


FIG.  271. — Map  show 


COMMON  TREES 


353 


; 


L_ l.7/L---;;777,  g*j& : ; .-  • 

l*'^(  *       /  s^^rai^:"x77N 

!    A   R  K   A   N    S   A   Sj_ ; \    ccc^-**^^  S  O  O  "»  ^ 

<    f^-\%    v-1" 

\      o  \ 

'   NATIONAL     FORESTS 

AND  RELATED  DATA 


<—.-,— $- 


C7"5  PURCHASE  ARCAS  (APPALACHIAN) 


?     DISTRICT  MEAOQUARTCRS 
SUPERVISORS'  ME»OQOARTtR$ 
A     PERMANENT  EXPERIMENT     STATION* 
*     LABORATORY  (MADISON, WI3J 


anal  forest  reserves 


354       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

in  lumbering  and  milling,  so  that  only  three-eighths  of  the 
cut  is  really  used;  the  wood  in  a  chair  represents  only  three- 
eighths  of  what  was  cut  to  make  the  chair.  The  loss  in  cut- 
ting the  trees  in  the  forest  is  estimated  at  about  20  per  cent, 
in  milling  into  lumber  at  1 7  per  cent,  and  in  manufacturing  into 
the  finished  product  at  30  per  cent.  Such  are  some  of  the 
striking  facts  in  the  whole  problem  of  the  conservation  of  our 
timber  supply.  The  appreciation  of  such  facts  must  lead  to  the 
continuance  of  our  national  policy  of  forest  conservation  and  to 
the  extension  of  this  policy  both  in  the  nation  and  in  the  states. 

National  reserves. — There  is  given  herewith  a  map  showing 
the  forest  reserves  of  the  United  States  (Fig.  271).  It  will  be 
noted  that  these  are  largely  in  the  western  states,  for  the  forests 
of  the  eastern  states  had  practically  all  been  cut  off  or  had 
passed  into  the  hands  of  private  individuals  before  the  govern- 
ment realized  the  necessity  of  careful  conservation  of  our  forest 
resources.  Now  the  government  is  buying  back,  in  some  of  the 
eastern  and  southern  states,  generous  areas  of  forest  lands, 
especially  those  about  the  headwaters  of  important  streams,  so 
as  to  make  forest  reservations. 

Care  of  forests. — The  methods  employed  in  handling  the 
government  forests  are  instructive  and  are  worthy  of  imitation 
on  both  large  and  small  estates  (Fig.  272).  Forest  rangers  are 
employed  to  keep  a  lookout  through  the  forests  and  to  see  that 
no  fires  gain  a  start.  During  the  time  of  the  year  when  the 
forests  are  very  dry  they  spend  much  of  their  time  on  vantage- 
points  from  which  they  can  see  the  country.  If  a  wisp  of  smoke 
arises  somewhere  within  the  forest  they  hasten  to  the  spot  to 
learn  the  cause;  not  infrequently  campers  have  unwisely  left  a 
smoldering  fire  or  a  blaze  has  been  started  in  some  other  way 
which  the  ranger  extinguishes.  If  he  finds  this  task  beyond  his 
individual  power  he  has  the  right  to  demand  help  from  settlers, 
campers,  or  any  other  persons  within  his  domain,  and  so  he 
can  usually  keep  the  fire  within  narrow  bounds  until  it  burns 
itself  out. 


COMMON  TREES 


355 


FIG.  272. — Redwood  trees  in  a  national  forest 


356       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Losses  from  fires. — These  forest  fires  have  been  the  sources 
of  tremendous  losses  (Fig.  273).  It  is  roughly  estimated  that 
in  the  history  of  this  country  we  have  had  destroyed  by  fire  quite 
as  much  timber  as  we  have  used.  Probably,  on  an  average, 
fifty  million  dollars'  worth  of  standing  timber  is  destroyed 
annually  by  fires.  Such  fires  are  a  source  of  grave  danger  to  the 
settlers  who  are  living  in  the  forest  areas  and  thousands  of  lives 
have  been  lost  in  this  way.  The  fury  and  rate  of  progress  of  a 


FIG.  273. — A  burned-over  region 

forest  fire  are  almost  inconceivable;  a  wall  of  flame  advances 
that  withers  everything  before  it;  tongues  of  flame  leap  up  and 
run  to  the  tops  of  the  standing  trees,  leaving  them  charred  stubs. 
The  scene  after  the  fire  passes  is  one  of  unspeakable  devastation 
(Fig.  274);  the  ground  is  blackened,  and  often  the  fire  smolders 
in  it  for  weeks,  unless  a  drenching  rain  follows.  The  ground  is 
littered  with  charred  logs  and  every  living  thing  has  disappeared; 
most  of  the  trees  have  fallen  and  been  burned;  only  a  few  of  the 
sturdier  ones  are  left  as  ruined  remnants.  Frequently  the  sur- 
face layers  of  the  vegetable  mold  are  so  completely  burned  out 


COMMON  TREES 


357 


that  there  are  no  tree  seeds  left;  no  new  trees  are  therefore 
started  the  following  year,  but  the  area  is  planted  with  the  wind- 
blown seeds  of  annual  and  other  weeds.  The  government  has 
had  to  replant  thousands  of  acres  of  such  burned-over  lands  in 
the  national  reservations. 

Soil  erosion. — In  time  trees  may  begin  to  get  a  hold  on  the 
soil,  but  frequently,  especially  in  hilly  country,  the  more  or  less 
burned-out  humus  is  washed  away  when  the  protection  of  the 


FIG.  274. — A  closer  view  of  the  burn 

forest  is  gone  and  the  hillsides  become  bare  masses  of  rock,  so 
that  reforesting  is  practically  impossible.  A  forest  fire  is  there- 
fore not  simply  a  means  of  temporary  destruction  of  the  forest, 
but  it  removes  the  possibility  of  any  forest  cover  for  many 
centuries.  The  government  wisely  tries  to  prevent  the  fires  in 
the  national  forests  and  money  spent  in  prevention  is  evidently 
wisely  spent. 

Unwise  methods  of  cutting. — A  second  source  of  tremendous 
loss  in  the  forests  has  been  unwise  methods  of  cutting.     The 


SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


axman  goes  through  the  forest  cutting  down  everything,  both 
mature  and  young  trees.  He  leaves  the  trimmings,  branches  and 
tops,  to  litter  the  ground  after  the  logs  have  been  hauled  off, 
so  that  much  lumber  that  could  be  manufactured  into  small 
articles,  like  clothespins  and  spools,  is  left  to  decay.  Often  this 
waste  material  dries  as  it  lies  and  comes  to  be  a  source  of  fires 
which  gather  headway  in  the  debris  and  invade  adjacent  stand- 


FIG.  275. — Pine  seedlings  under  old  trees 

ing  timber.  In  the  government  reserves  these  trimmings  are 
burned  while  the  snow  is  on  the  ground  or  after  heavy  rains, 
and  then  only  after  such  small  timber  has  been  cut  out  as  is 
serviceable  for  cordwood  or  for  the  manufacture  of  small  wooden 
utensils. 

Replanting. — Often  the  land  is  cleared  completely  by  the 
lumberman  and  then  it  needs  replanting.  A  certain  small  iron 
furnace  at  Marquette,  Michigan,  which  smelts  its  ore  with 
charcoal,  cleans  off  fifteen  acres  of  the  finest  hardwood  forest 


COMMON  TREES  359 

daily  in  order  to  furnish  the  wood  for  making  the  charcoal. 
Some  of  this  land  is  sold  for  farming  purposes,  but  much  of  it  is 
valuable  only  as  forest  land;  it  is  such  land  that  needs  replanting. 
The  government  in  its  forestry  operations  permits  only  the 
mature  trees  to  be  cut,  and  if  a  stand  of  timber  consists  only  of 
mature  trees,  enough  of  them  are  left  to  seed  the  ground  beneath 
(Fig.  275). 

Seedlings. — In  many  species  of  forest  trees  the  seedlings  grow 
only  under  the  shade  of  other  trees.  On  the  eastern  shore  of 
Lake  Michigan  there  is  a  barren  sandy  region  which  was  formerly 
covered  with  a  forest  of  white  pine.  The  owner  of  a  large  area 
of  this  territory  decided,  on  expert  advice,  to  replant  with  white 
pine,  since  it  seemed  reasonable  to  suppose  that  inasmuch  as 
white  pine  had  once  grown  there  to  splendid  size  it  would  grow 
again.  But  when  practically  all  of  the  fifty  thousand  young  pine 
trees  set  out  in  the  initial  experiment  died  it  was  realized  that 
white-pine  seedlings  demand  shelter  in  their  early  years  of  growth. 
It  is  necessary  to  begin  such  a  forest  with  trees  like  the  cotton- 
wood,  which  will  stand  the  untoward  conditions  of  an  exposed 
area.  The  pines  may  be  planted  when  the  cottonwoods  afford 
adequate  shelter. 

Reforestation. — The  government  is  planting  the  seeds  of 
forest  trees  in  those  parts  of  the  forest  reservations  that  are  not 
needed  for  agricultural  purposes  (Fig.  276).  Already  many 
thousands  of  acres  have  been  planted  and  on  much  of  this  land 
a  healthy  stand  of  timber  is  already  under  way.  Nearly  six 
thousand  acres  were  planted  with  seed  in  1915  and  almost 
thirty-five  million  trees  were  set  out  on  nine  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  thirty-one  acres. 

The  farmer's  wood  lot. — It  will  be  recalled  that  quite  as  much 
of  the  standing  timber  in  this  country  is  owned  by  the  farmers 
in  their  small  wood  lots  as  is  owned  by  the  government  in  its 
forest  reservations,  and  almost  as  much  is  in  the  large  private 
estates.  On  the  estates  careful  methods  of  cutting  and  pre- 
caution against  fire  are  already  quite  common.  The  small 


360       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

forest  holder,  the  farmer  with  his  wood  lot,  is  usually  the  last 
individual  to  appreciate  the  need  of  careful  management.  As  a 
rule  the  wood  lot  is  cluttered  with  fallen  trees  that  are  in  all 
stages  of  decay  and  that  are  infected  with  fungi  whose  spores  are 
blown  about  by  every  wind.  These  spores  frequently  find  lodg- 
ment in  wounds  on  growing  trees  and  are  thus  a  constant  source  of 


FIG.  276. — Replanting  forest  land  (United  States  Forest  Service,  Bulletin 
No.  98}. 

timber  diseases,  depreciating  the  value  of  the  timber  that  is  grown. 
The  fallen  timber  is  also  the  breeding  place  of  many  wood-boring 
insect  larvae  and  these  are  a  constant  menace  to  the  standing  tim- 
ber, for  as  the  insects  become  more  numerous  the  larvae  attack 
not  only  the  timber  that  is  down  but  also  that  standing. 

In  cutting  the  timber  little  or  no  attention  is  paid  to  the  need 
of  taking  out  only  the  mature  trees.     If  posts  are  wanted,  for 


COMMON  TREES  36* 

instance,  the  small  trees  are  cut  rather  than  take  down  the  big 
ones  and  split  the  logs.  Little  or  no  attention  is  paid  to  replant- 
ing. In  many  sections  of  the  country  the  average  farmer  pos- 
sesses ten  or  twenty  acres  of  land  that  is  too  rough  for  agricultural 
purposes  and  often  is  too  poor  to  even  afford  good  pasturage. 
Such  land  might  frequently  be  made  to  bear  a  valuable  crop  of 
timber.  The  author  recalls  a  forty-acre  piece  of  black  walnut 
that  was  planted  on  river  bottom  land,  usually  flooded  by  the 
spring  freshets  and  very  rough  with  glacial  bowlders.  A  wise 
settler,  three  generations  back,  had  used  some  of  his  spare  time 
to  gather  the  walnuts  from  a  nearby  tree  and  with  a  hoe  had 
planted  them  on  this  worthless  land.  While  it  had  not  given  a 
valuable  return  to  that  man,  it  had  increased  very  materially  the 
value  of  his  estate  in  the  course  of  time,  for  the  black-walnut 
timber  on  it  some  sixty  years  after  planting  was  purchased  for 
more  than  all  the  rest  of  the  farm  was  worth,  and  it  was  a  farm 
of  more  than  two  hundred  acres  in  the  best  agricultural  district 
of  southern  Wisconsin. 


KEY  TO  COMMON  KINDS  OF  TREES1 

The  following  key  is  intended  only  as  a  guide  in  the  identification  of 
the  more  common  kinds  of  trees.  It  is  based  on  prominent,  'distinctive 
characters  which  can  readily  be  observed  by  those  who  have  no  special 
training  in  botany.  Most  of  the  terms  used  require  no  explanation. 

To  use  the  key,  decide  first,  by  an  examination  of  the  leaf,  in  which  of 
the  following  seven  sections  your  tree  belongs;  then  turn  to  that  section 
and  from  the  descriptions  there  given  determine  what  kind  of  tree  it  is. 

SECTION 

Trees  with  needles,  or  scalelike  leaves,  mostly  evergreens,  bearing 

cones I 

Trees  with  broad  leaves 
Leaves  simple 

Alternately  attached  to  twigs 

With  toothed  edges II 

Edges  neither  toothed  nor  notched Ill 

1  By  William  H.  Lamb,  Scientific  Assistant  in  Dendrology. 


362       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Opposite  On  twigs  SECTION 

With  toothed  edges IV 

Edges  neither  toothed  nor  notched V 

Leaves  compound 

Alternately  attached  to  twigs VI 

Opposite  on  twigs VII 

THE  CONIFEROUS1  TREES 
I.    Trees  with  needles,  or  scalelike  leaves,  mostly  evergreen,  bearing  cones 

A.  Leaves  needle-shaped 

1.  Leaves  clustered 

a)  Leaves  long,  from  i  to  18  inches,  2  to  5  in  a  cluster. 

Cones  large,  with  many  thick,  woody  scales  (Pinus)        Pine 

b)  Leaves  short  (less  than  2  inches  long)  in  brushlike  clusters 
of  1 2  to  40;  falling  off  in  winter.     Cones  very  small,  with 
thin  scales;  remaining  on  tree  for  one  or  more  seasons 

(Larix)      Larch2 

2.  Leaves  single 

a)  Leaves  scattered  around  twigs;  falling  off  when  dry  or 
dead.     Cones  elongated,  with  thin  scales.    Twigs  rough- 
ened by  leaf  scars 

x  Leaves  stiff,  often  sharp-pointed,  and  more  or  less  four- 
sided  (Picea)  Spruce 

y  Leaves  soft,  flat,  rounded,  or  notched  at  ends,  the  bases 

abruptly  contracted  into  threadlike  stems  (Tsuga)  Hemlock 

b)  Leaves  in  two  distinct  rows,  one  on  each  side  of  the  twig; 
falling  off  in  late  autumn  or  winter.    Cones  small,  ball- 
like  (Taxodium)  Bald  Cypress 

c)  Leaves  often  in  two  rows  on  the  tops  and  sides  of  the 
twigs;   leaves  on  lower  branches  mostly  flat,  those  on 
upper  branches  stouter.     Cones  long,  erect,  forming  only 
on  upper  side  of  topmost  branches;  the  scales  falling  off 
in  autumn,  leaving  spikelike  central  axes  of  the  cones 
attached-  (Abies)  Fir 

B.  Leaves  scalelike,  pointed,  overlapping  closely  on  flat  or  four- 
sided  twigs 

i.  Twigs  four-sided.     Cones  round  or  ball-like,  with  small, 
thick  scales;  seed  with  very  narrow,  hard  wings 

(Cupressus)  Cypress 

1  Cone-bearing. 

a  The  larches  are  peculiar  in  having  single,  scattered  leaves  on  the  new  or 
terminal  twigs  produced  each  season.  These  should  not  be  mistaken  for  the 
"single"  leaves  borne  throughout  by  other  kinds  of  evergreens. 


COMMON  TREES  363 

2.  Twigs  flattened 

a)  Cones  elongated,  with  only  a  few  thin  scales;  bent  back 

on  branches  (Thuja)  Arbor  Vitae 

b)  Cones  round,  very  small,  berry-like  with  thin  scales; 

seeds  with  a  broad,  thin  wing  on  two  sides    (Chamcecyparis)  Cedar 

c)  Cones  berry-like  (showing  no  separation  into  scale  parts) . 
Leaves  either  short,  scalelike,  and  sharp-pointed  or  much 
longer,  needle-like,  standing  out  loosely,  and  attached  in 

pairs  or  in  threes  on  the  twigs  (Juniperus)  Juniper 

THE  BROADLEAF  TREES 

II.    Leaves  simple,  alternate,  with  toothed  edges 

A.  Leaves  deeply  lobed,  or  with  large  notches 

1.  Leaves  as  wide  as  they  are  long.     Fruit  a  swinging  ball,  i  to 
1 1  inches  in  diameter 

a)  Leaves  with  finely  toothed  margins;  star-shaped,  the 
divisions  pointed.  Fruit,  burlike  balls,  from  which,  when 
ripe,  small,  winged  seeds  may  be  shaken.  Bark  rough 

(Liquidambar)  Sweet  Gum 

V)  Leaves  with  smooth  margins,  3  to  5  inches  long,  pointed 
lobes,  the  space  between  the  lobes  rounded.  Fruit,  a 
rough  ball,  easily  broken  when  ripe;  composed  of  closely 
packed,  long,  narrow  seeds  which  have  hairlike  bristles 
at  their  lower  ends  and  are  attached  to  a  bullet-like  central 
part.  Old  bark  of  trunks  and  large  limbs  peeling  off  in 
thin,  curled  pieces,  leaving  pale  inner  bark  showing  in 
irregular  patches  (Platanus)  Sycamore 

2.  Leaves  longer  than  wide 

a)  Leaves  large  with  deep,  round-topped,  or  pointed  lobes. 

Fruit,  an  acorn,  resting  in  a  separable  cup  (Quercus)  Oak 

&)  Leaves  small,  with  little,  sharp  teeth  on  margin.  Twigs 
bearing  sharp  thorns.  Fruit  small  (like  a  little  apple), 
round,  with  bony  seeds  (hard  core)  (Crat&gus)  Hawthorn 

B.  Leaves  one-sided  (one  side  of  leaf  shorter  at  base  than  the  other 
side) 

1.  Leaves  large,  oval,  5  to  10  inches  long,  heart-shaped.     Fruit, 
a  cluster  of  small,  woody  balls  i  to  ^  inch  in  diameter,  hang- 
ing from  a  narrow,  leaf  like  blade  (Tilia)  Bass  wood 

2.  Leaves  3-veined  at  base,  with  long,  tapering  points,  which 
generally  turn  to  one  side;  edges  smooth,  or  with  small  teeth 
of  uniform  size.     Fruit,  a  small  berry  about  £  inch  in  diameter 

(Cdtis)  Hackberry 


,364       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

3.  Leaves  with  straight  veins,  oval;  edges  double- toothed  (little 
teeth  on  the  larger  ones).  Fruit  in  clusters,  dry,  flat,  with 
papery  wings  all  around  the  seeds  (Ulmus)  Elm 

C.  Leaves  even-sided  (both  sides  of  leaf  the  same  length) 

1.  Leaves  oval,  evergreen,  thick,  with  short  needle-like  teeth. 

Fruit,  a  bright-red  berry  (Ilex)  Holly 

2.  Leaves  more  or  less  elongated,  with  one  tooth  at  the  end  of 
each  side  vein 

a)  Trees  with  smooth,  bluish-gray  bark,  and  long,  pointed, 
chestnut-brown  buds.  Fruit,  a  small,  three-cornered 
nut,  in  a  spiny  husk  which  splits  open  at  the  top  into 
three  parts  (Fagus)  Beech 

5)  Trees  with  ridged,  grayish-brown  bark.  Fruit,  a  large, 
round  nut  in  a  thick  husk  covered  with  dense,  needle-like 
spines;  the  husk  splits  open  from  the  top  into  3  or  4 
divisions  (Castanea)  Chestnut 

3 .  Leaves  very  narrow,  finely  toothed.     Small  branches  slender, 
usually  tough.     Fruit,  a  long  cluster  of  little  pods  filled  with 
"cotton"  (Salix)  Willow 

4.  Leaves  somewhat  triangular  in  outline,  broad  at  base,  large- 
toothed.     Buds  of  some  species  coated  with  aromatic  gum. 
Branches  coarse.     Fruit,  a  long  cluster  of  little  pods  filled 

with  "cotton"  (Populus)  Poplar 

5.  Leaves  oval,  pointed,  with  sawlike  teeth 
a)  Fruit  like  a  tiny  pine  cone 

x  Bark  of  trunk  and  branches  peeling  off  in  thin  sheets. 
Leaves  double-toothed  (little  teeth  on  the  larger  ones) . 
Fruit  ("cones")  scaly,  falling  apart  when  ripe;  seeds 
with  gauzelike  wings  on  two  sides  (Betula)  Birch 

y  Bark  smooth  or  broken,  but  not  peeling.  Leaves  with 
small  teeth.  "  Cones  "  hard,  woody,  not  falling  apart ; 
seed  with  narrow  wings  on  two  sides  (Alnus)  Alder 

ft)  Fruit,  a  berry;  fleshy,  edible 

x  Leaves  large,  3-veined  at  base,  often  irregularly,  deeply 
lobed;  containing  milky  juice.  Fruit  similar  in 
appearance  to  a  blackberry  (Morus)  Mulberry 

y  Leaves  small  or  medium-sized,  feather- veined;  con- 
taining green  juice;  fruit  (cherry  or  plum)  with  one 
seed 

i.  Seed  ("stone")  flattened.     Fruit  large  and  short- 
stemmed  (Prunus}  Plum 
ii.  Seed  round.     Fruit  small  and  long-stemmed 

(Prunus)  Cherry 


COMMON  TREES  365 

III.    Leaves  simple,  alternate,  edge  neither  toothed  nor  notched 

A.  Leaves  with  deep  lobes 

1.  Leaves  with  blunt  ends  (appearing  as  if  cut  off),  and  with 
two  pointed  side  lobes.     Flowers  tulip-like.     Fruit  conelike, 
pointed,  upright,  composed  of  long,  thin,  overlapping,  winged 
seeds.    Bruised  twigs  have  a  peppery  odor 

(Liriodendron)  Tulip  Poplar 

2.  Leaves  with  rounded  ends;  oval,  often  with  a  lobe  on  one 
side,  making  the  leaf  mitten-shaped.    Bruised  twigs  and 

inner  bark  of  trunk  sweet-smelling  (Sassafras)  Sassafras 

B.  Leaves  without  lobes 

1.  Bruised  twigs  with  peppery  odor 

a)  Leaves  oval  (evergreen  in  one  species)  or  elongated, 
pointed,  large.  Flowers  large,  at  ends  of  branches. 
Fruit  conelike,  with  a  bright-red  seed  in  each  division 

(Magnolia)  Magnolia 

2.  Bruised  twigs  without  peppery  odor 

a)  Leaves  broader  at  top  than  at  the  base,  8  to  12  inches 
long,  with  very  short  leafstalk.     Fruit  fleshy,  elongated, 
3  to  4  inches  long,  with  thick,  brown  skin  when  ripe,  and 

large,  bony,  flat  seeds.     Buds  brown  and  hairy  (A  simina)  Pawpaw 

b)  Leaves  oval,  elongated,  3  to  7  inches  long.     Fruit,  plum- 
like,  round,  i  to  i^  inches  in  diameter;  When  ripe,  pale- 
orange  color;  on  a  very  short  stalk,  surrounded  at  base 
with  old,  hard  flower-cup.    Fruit  very  bitter,  but  edible 

after  frost  (Diospyros)  Persimmon 

c)  Leaves  rounded  or  heart-shaped,  3  to  5  inches  across. 
Flowers  pealike,  pink,  appearing  before  the  leaves.     Fruit 
a  dry,  flat  pod,  2\  to  3^  inches  long;  in  dense  clusters  on 
sides  of  branches;  seeds,  hard,  small,  oblong,  \  inch  long 

(Cercis)  Redbud 

3.  Bruised  or  cut  twigs  and  leaves  with  milky  juice 

a)  Leaves  with  narrow  points.  Twigs  bearing  thorns. 
Fruit,  a  large,  orange-like,  rough  ball  4  to  6  inches  in 
diameter  (Toxylon)  Osage  Orange 

IV.    Leaves  simple,  opposite,  with  toothed  edges 

Leaves  with  large  (often  lobelike)  teeth.  Fruit  in  pairs,  each 
part  with  a  conspicuous,  flat,  very  thin  wing.  Fruit  matures  in 
spring  or  in  autumn,  when  it  becomes  dry  and  yellowish  brown 

(Acer)  Maple 


366       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

V.    Leaves  simple,  opposite,  edges  neither  toothed  nor  notched 

A.  Leaves  very  large,  heart-shaped.     Flowers  showy,  trumpet- 
like,  in  large  clusters.     Fruit,  a  long,  cylindrical  pod,  6  to  14 
inches  long,  containing  closely  packed,  flat,  dry  seeds,  with 
fringed  wings  at  each  end  (Calalpa)  Catalpa 

B.  Leaves  rather  small,  oval,  tapering  at  base  and  point.     Flowers 
conspicuous,  white   (occasionally  rosy),  appearing  with  the 
expanding  leaves.    Fruit,  a  small  cluster  of  two-seeded  berries, 
turning  red  in  autumn  (Cornus)  Dogwood 

VI.    Leaves  compound,  alternately  attached  to  twigs 

A.  Leaflets  small,  many,  attached  along  two  sides  of  a  main  stem. 
Fruit,  a  flat,  beanlike,  dry  or  fleshy  pod 

1.  Leaflets  with  small,  wavy  teeth.    Pods  flat,  broad,  long, 

often  twisted,  thin-skinned,  with  thick,  cheesy,  sweetish 
pulp  about  seeds.    Trees  with  long,  keen,  branched  thorns 

(Gleditsia)  Honey  Locust 

2.  Leaflets  not  toothed 

a)  Twigs  with  pairs  of  short,  keen  thorns.    Leaflets  rounded 
at  ends.    Flowers  showy  white,  in  large  clusters.    Pods 

small,  flat,  thin,  dry,  with  small  seeds         (Robinia)  Black  Locust 

b)  Twigs  thornless.    Leaflets  oval,  pointed.     Flowers  green- 
ish, with  violet  odor.    Pods  large,  flat,  thick,  with  jelly- 
like  pulp   (poisonous)   around  the  large,  black-brown 

seeds  (Gymnocladus)  Coffee  Tree 

B.  Leaflets  large.    Fruit,  a  hard-shelled  nut,  with  a  separable 
husk 

1.  Leaflets  narrow  at  base,  becoming  larger  at  outer  end.    Nut 
light-colored,  in  a  husk  which  separates  more  or  less  com- 
pletely into  four  parts  when  ripe  (Hicoria)  Hickory 

2.  Leaflets  broad  at  base,  becoming  narrower  at  outer  end. 
Nut  dark,  rough,  in  a  fleshy  husk  which  is  inseparable  by 
any  natural  divisions  and  turns  black  when  old.    Pith  of 

twigs  forms  numerous  cross-partitions  (Juglans)  Walnut 

VII.     Leaves  compound,  opposite  on  twigs 

A.  Leaflets  arranged  along  two  sides  of  a  main  leafstalk,  with  a 
leaflet  at  the  end 

i.  Leaflets  generally  3  (sometimes  5),  toothed  only  near  the 
ends.  Fruit,  a  cluster  of  dry,  winged  seeds,  arranged  in 
pairs  like  those  of  maple  (Acer)  Box  Elder1 

1  Box  elder,  a  true  maple,  differs  from  the  others  in  having  compound  leaves. 


COMMON  TREES  367 

2.  Leaflets  generally  more  than  3  (3  to  n),  and  either  not 
toothed  or  with  small  teeth.    Fruit,  a  cluster  of  single- 
winged,  dry,  oar-shaped  "seeds"  (Fraxinus)  Ash 
Leaflets  (5  to  9)  clustered  at  end  of  a  main  leaf  stem.     Fruit,  a 
shiny,  brown  nut  in  a  thick,  warty  or  prickly  husk,  which 
'separates  into  several  parts                                          (JEsculus)  Buckeye 


BIBLIOGRAPHY1 

Apgar,  A.  C.  Trees  of  Northern  United  States  and  Canada.  New  York: 
American  Book  Co.  $i .  oo. 

.  Ornamental  Shrubs  of  the  United  States.  New  York:  American 

Book  Co.  $i .  50. 

Beard,  Dan.  Field  and  Forest  Handy  Book.  New  York:  Charles  Scribner 
and  Sons.  $i .  50. 

Blakeslee  and  Jarvis.  Trees  in  Their  Winter  Condition.  New  York: 
The  Macmillan  Co.  $2 .  oo. 

Boerker,  H.  D.  Our  National  Forests.  New  York:  The  Macmillan  Co. 
$2 .  oo. 

Bruncker,  E.  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry.  New  York:  G.  P. 
Putnam's  Sons.  $2.00. 

Clements,  Rosendall,  and  Butters.  Minnesota  Trees  and  Shrubs.  Univer- 
sity of  Minnesota  (Minneapolis). 

Flagg,  Wilson.  A  Year  among  the  Trees.  Chicago:  Educational  Pub- 
lishing Co.  $i .  oo. 

Gifford,  John.  Practical  Forestry  for  Beginners.  New  York:  D.  Appleton 
&  Co.  $1.30. 

Hough,  Romeyn  B.  Handbook  of  the  Trees  of  the  Northern  United  States 
and  Canada.  Lowville,  N.Y.:  Published  by  the  author.  $6.00. 

Keeler,  H.  L.  Our  Native  Trees  and  How  to  Identify  Them.  New  York: 
Charles  Scribner  and  Sons.  $2 .  oo. 

.  Our  Native  Shrubs  and  How  to  Identify  Them.  New  York: 

Charles  Scribner  and  Sons.  $2 .  oo. 

Levison,  J.  J.    Studies  of  Trees.    New  York:  John  Wiley  &  Sons.    $1.60. 

Lounsberry,  Alice.    Guide  to  the  Trees.    New  York:    F.  A.  Stokes  Co. 

$2  .  50. 

McFarland,  J.  H.  Getting  Acquainted  with  the  Trees.  New  York:  The 
Macmillan  Co.  $i .  50. 

1  Farmers'  bulletins  are  issued  by  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 
Washington,  D.C. 


368       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Mathews,  F.  S.    Familiar  Trees  and  Their  Leaves.    New  York:  Appleton 

&Co.    $2.00. 
Moon  and  Brown.    Elements  of  Forestry.    New  York:  John  Wiley  &  Sons. 

$2.00. 
Mosher,  Edith  R.    Forest  Study  in  the  Primary  Grades.    Michigan  Public 

Domain  Commission  (Lansing). 

Muir,  John.     Our  National  Parks.    Boston:  Hough  ton  Mifflin  Co.     $3.00. 
Parkhurst,  H.  E.     Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Vines  of  the  Northeastern  United 

States.    New  York:  Charles  Scribner  and  Sons.     $i .  50. 
Pinchot,    Gifford.    Primer   of  Forestry.    United   States   Department   of 

Agriculture. 
Pythian,  J.  E.     Trees  in  Nature,  Myth,  and  Art.    Philadelphia:   G.  W. 

Jacobs.    $1.50. 
Rankin,W.H.    Manual  of  Tree  Diseases.    New  York:    The  Macmillan  Co. 

$1-75. 
Rogers,  J.  E.     Trees  Every  Child  Should  Know.    New  York:    Grosset  & 

Dunlap.    $0.75. 

.     The  Tree  Book.    New  York:  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.    $4.00. 

Roth,  Filbert.     First  Book  of  Forestry.     Boston:  Ginn  &  Co.     $0.75. 
Sargent,   Charles  S.     Manual  of  the  Trees  of  North  America.     Boston: 

Houghton  Mifflin  Co.    $6 .  oo. 

Seton,  Ernest  Thomson.     The  Forester's  Hand  Book.    New  York:  Double- 
day,  Page  &  Co.    $i  .00. 
Stone  and  Fickett.      Trees  in  Prose  and  Poetry.     Boston:    Ginn  &  Co. 

$0.45. 
Thoreau,   Henry  D.     Succession   of  Forest   Trees.    Boston:    Houghton 

Mifflin  Co.    $0.15. 

.     The  Maine  Woods.    Houghton  Mifflin  Co.    $i .  50. 

Farmers'  Bulletins.     United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Washing- 
ton, D.C.: 

No.  99,  Three  Insect  Enemies  of  Shade  Trees. 

No.  134,  Tree  Planting  on  Rural  School  Grounds. 

Nos.  173  and  358,  Primer  of  Forestry.    Parts  I  and  II. 

No.  423,  Forest  Nurseries  for  Schools. 

No.  468,  Forestry  in  Nature  Study. 

No.  711,  The  Care  and  Improvement  of  the  Woodlot. 
Bureau  of  Forestry  Circulars: 

No.  25,  Forestry  and  the  Lumber  Supply. 

No.  26,  Forest  Fires  in  the  Adirondack*  in  1903. 

No.  55,  How  to  Pack  and  Ship  Young  Forest  Trees. 

No.  56,  Bur  Oak,  Quercus  macrocarpa. 


COMMON  TREES  369 

No.  57,  Jack  Pine,  Pinus  divaricata. 

No.  59,  Eucalyptus.    Revised. 

No.  60,  Red  Pine,  Pinus  resinosa. 

No.  61,  How  to  Transplant  Forest  Trees. 

No.  62,  Shagbark  Hickory,  Hicoria  ovata. 

No.  63,  Basswood,  Tilia  americana. 

No.  64,  .Z?/ac&  Locust,  Robinia  pseudacacia. 

No.  65,  Norway  Spruce,  Picea  excelsa. 

No.  66,  T'Wte  E/w,  Ulmus  americana. 

No.  67,  TF^/e  P;we,  Pinus  strobus. 

No.  68,  Scotch  Pine,  Pinus  sylvestris. 

No.  70,  European  Larch,  Larix  europae. 

No.  71,  Chestnut,  Castanea  dentata. 

No.  72,  Western  Yellow  Pine,  Pinus  ponder osa. 

No.  74,  Honey  Locust,  Gleditsia  triacanthos. 

No.  75,  Hackberry,  Celtis  occidentalis. 

No.  81,  Forest  Planting  in  Illinois. 

No.  82,  Fard>>  Catalpa. 

No.  86,  Boxelder,  Acer  negundo.    Revised. 

No.  87,  White  Willow,  Salix  alba. 

No.  88,  Black  Walnut,  Juglans  nigra. 

No.  89,  Tamarack,  Larix  laricina. 

No.  90,  Osage  Orange,  Toxylon  pomiferum. 

No.  91,  Coffee  Tree,  Gymnocladus  dioicus.    Revised. 

No.  92,  Green  Ash,  Fraxinus  lanceolata. 

No.  93,  Yellow  Poplar,  Liriodendron  lulipifera. 

No.  94,  Black  Cherry,  Prunus  serotina. 

No.  95,  Sugar  Maple,  Acer  saccharum. 

No.  97,  The  Timber  Supply  of  the  United  Slates. 

No.  99,  Suggestions  for  Forest  Planting  on  the  Semi-arid  Plains. 

No.  100,  Suggestions  for  Forest  Planting  in  the  Northwestern  and  Lake 

States. 

No.  1 1 6,  The  Waning  Hardwood  Supply  and  the  Appalachian  Forests. 
No.  129,  The  Drain  upon  the  Forests. 
No.  130,  Forestry  in  the  Public  Schools. 
No.  133,  Production  of  Veneer  in  1906. 

No.  138,  Suggestions  to  Woodlot  Owners  in  the  Ohio  Valley  Region. 
No.  139,  A  Primer  of  Wood  Preservation. 
No.  140,  What  Forestry  Has  Done. 
No.  145,  Forest  Planting  on  the  Northern  Prairies. 
No.  164,  Properties  and  Uses  of  Southern  Pines. 


370       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

No.  165,  Practical  Assistance  to  Owners  of  Forest  Land  and  to  Tree 

Planters. 

No.  1 66,  The  Timber  Supply  of  the  United  States. 
No.  167,  The  Status  of  Forestry  in  the  United  States. 
No.  1 68,  Commercial  Importance  of  the  White  Mountain  Forests. 
No.  171,  The  Forests  of  the  United  States:  Their  Use. 
No.  207,  Profession  of  Forestry. 
Bureau  of  Forestry  Bulletins: 

No.  10,  Timber:    An  Elementary  Discussion  of  the  Characteristics  and 

Properties  of  Wood. 

No.  28,  A  Short  Account  of  the  Big  Trees  of  California. 
No.  42,  The  Woodlot. 
No.  44,  The  Diminished  Flow  of  the  Rock  River  in  Wisconsin  and  Illinois, 

and  Its  Relation  to  the  Surrounding  Forests. 
No.  59,  The  Maple  Sugar  Industry. 

No.  76,  How  to  Grow  and  Plant  Conifers  in  the  Northeastern  States. 
No.  153,  Forest  Planting  in  Eastern  United  Slates. 
No.  285,  The  Northern  Hardwood  Forest:  Its  Composition,  Growth,  and 

Management. 

Bureau  of  Entomology.    The  following  are  sample  citations.     Many  others 
are  issued: 

Circular  No.  125,  Insects  Which  Kill  Forest  Trees. 
Circular  No.  129,  Insects  in  Relation  to  Their  Reduction    of  Future 

Supplies  of  Timber. 
Reprints  Yearbook,  Department  of  Agriculture: 

1902.  Some  of  the  Principal  Insect  Enemies  of  Coniferous  Forests  in 
the  United  States. 

1903.  Insect  Injuries  to  Hardwood  Forest  Trees. 
1917.    Notable  Depredations  by  Forest  Insects. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS 

The  seed. — To  watch  the  germination  of  an  inert  seed,  the 
development  therefrom  of  the  tiny  plant,  the  growth  of  bursting 
bud  and  flower,  is  to  cross  the  threshold  of  nature's  impenetrable 
mysteries. 

Of  all  the  wonderful  things  in  the  wonderful  universe  of  God,  nothing 
seems  to  me  more  surprising  than  the  planting  of  a  seed  in  the  black  earth 
and  the  result  thereof.  Take  a  poppy  seed,  for  instance;  it  lies  in  your 
palm,  the  merest  atom  of  matter,  hardly  visible,  a  speck,  a  pin's  point  in 
bulk,  but  within  it  is  imprisoned  a  spirit  of  beauty  ineffable,  which  will 
break  its  bonds  and  emerge  from  the  dark  ground  and  blossom  in  splendor 
so  dazzling  as  to  baffle  all  powers  of  description.  The  Genie  in  the  Arabian 
tale  is  not  half  so  astonishing. — Thaxter. 

Tennyson  was  under  the  spell  of  these  mysteries  that  throng 
upon  the  heart  and  brain  when  he  wrote: 

Flower  in  the  crannied  wall, 

I  pluck  you  out  of  the  crannies, 

I  hold  you  here,  root  and  all,  in  my  hand, 

Little  flower — but  if  I  could  understand 

What  you  are,  root  and  all,  and  all  in  all, 

I  should  know  what  God  and  man  is. 

An  attempt  to  "  understand  what  you  are,  root  and  all,  and 
all  in  all,  little  flower,"  will  at  least  awaken  interest  in  some  very 
commonplace  things  and  perhaps  add  to  our  reverence  and  love 
for  them. 

The  flower  show. — "The  love  of  a  flower  in  the  heart  of  a 
child  is  the  highest  thing  that  nature-study  can  hope  to  develop." 
That  love  can  best  be  stimulated  by  giving  the  child  the  little 
plant  to  rear  and  care  for.  The  flower  show  has  been  found  an 
excellent  device  for  arousing  interest  (Fig.  277). 

371 


372       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Each  pupil  should  be  provided  with  two  or  three  seeds  of  a 
plant  that  is  a  rapid  grower  and  that  will,  with  proper  care, 
blossom  before  the  end  of  the  term;  provide  him  also  with  the 
planting  directions  given  herewith.  Follow  the  directions  care- 
fully, and  try  to  raise  a  fine  plant.  These  plants  should  be 
brought  to  school  at  the  close  of  the  term,  carefully  wrapped 
up  so  that  they  will  not  freeze.  A  prize  will  be  given  to  the 
pupil  rearing  the  finest  plant. 


FIG.  277. — The  flower  show  (New  York  City  public  school) 

Directions  for  planting. — Procure  a  four-  or  five-inch  flower- 
pot or  a  tin  can  or  box.  If  you  use  a  can,  punch  a  few  nail  holes 
in  the  bottom.  Place  at  the  bottom  a  small  handful  of  bits  of 
stone,  coal,  or  coke  as  large  as  beans,  and  fill  to  within  an  inch 
or  two  of  the  top  with  good  fine  earth.  Water  it  well  and  let 
it  stand  for  a  day.  Soak  the  seed  overnight,  then  make  little 
holes  in  the  earth  twice  as  deep  as  the  seed  is  thick  and  put  one 
seed  in  each.  Cover  the  seeds  loosely  with  earth.  Cover  the  pot 
or  box  with  a  piece  of  board  or  glass  until  the  first  leaves  are  up. 

Keep  the  pot  where  it  is  comfortably  warm,  not  hot.  At 
night  move  it  to  a  warm  spot.  Give  it  just  enough  water  to 


SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS  373 

keep  the  earth  moist,  not  wet.  While  the  pot  is  covered  it  will 
not  need  much  water.  If  you  give  it  too  much  the  seed  will  rot. 
When  the  plants  are  up  water  -every  second  day. 

When  the  leaves  appear  remove  the  cover  and  give  the  little 
plants  all  the  sunlight  you  can.  When  the  plants  are  an  inch 
or  so  high  pull  up  all  but  the  largest  and  strongest  one.  Push 
a  piece  of  old  plaster  as  big  as  a  bean  down  into  the  earth  at  one 
side  of  the  pot.  Take  care  of  your  own  plant.  Do  not  ask  some 
one  else  to  do  it  for  you.  r 

For  all  places,  then,  and  in  all  seasons, 

Flowers  expand  their  light  and  soul-like  wings, 

Teaching  us,  by  most  persuasive  reasons, 

How  akin  they  are  to  human  things. 

— Longfellow. 

Reports. — After  the  seeds  have  been  taken  home  and  planted 
and  are  being  cared  for  by  the  children,  frequent  oral  reports 
should  be  called  for  in  school  on  the  progress  the  seedlings  are 
making.  This  serves  to  maintain  interest  and  affords  excellent 
subject-matter  for  language-work.  If  the  seeds  are  distributed 
and  planted  at  the  opening  of  the  winter  term  the  plants  will 
likely  be  in  bloom  by  the  middle  of  March  or  early  in  April. 
The  flower  show  may  be  held  when  the  plants  are  at  their  best. 
The  prizes  may  be  very  inexpensive  and  still  add  zest  to  the 
project. 

It  is  surprising  what  excellent  results  the  children  achieve 
with  their  plants.  Usually,  quite  contrary  to  expectations,  the 
lower  grades  do  better  than  the  upper  ones.  Dwarf  alyssum, 
candytuft,  cornflower,  pot  marigolds,  and  phlox  are  all  good 
growers,  but  no  plant  is  so  good  for  a  first  attempt  as  the  dwarf 
nasturtium.  It  persists  in  growing  and  blooming  in  spite  of 
accidents  and  neglect. 

Awakening  interest. — In  starting  this  work  use  ten  or  fifteen 
minutes  each  day  for  the  first  week  of  the  winter  term.  Ask  the 
children  what  flowers  they  like  best  and  why;  in  the  upper 
grades  this  might  form  the  subject  for  a  written  exercise.  The 
first  period  might  well  be  taken  in  learning  the  children's 


374       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

preferences  and  pondering  them;  then  ask  what  flowers  or  plants 
they  have  grown  and  let  them  talk  freely  about  their  experiences. 
You  will  likely  have  some  enthusiastic  little  gardener  in  your 
room  who  has  successfully  reared  flowers,  these  "thoughts  of 
the  spirit  of  God."  His  enthusiasm  will  be  contagious,  and  when 
interest  is  well  developed  you  can  suggest  the  plan  of  planting 
and  the  flower  show.  Perhaps  two  periods  more  will  be  used  in 
talking  over  experiences  in  raising  flowers  and  in  outlining  the  plan 
of  work.  Then  let  the  teacher  use  the  fourth  period  for  the  first 
week  in  showing  the  children  just  how  to  carry  out  the  instruc- 
tions for  fixing  the  earth  in  the  pot  and  for  planting  the  seeds. 
The  results. — The  outcome  of  this  flower  show  should  be 
more  than  the  production  of  a  pretty  plant;  it  should  teach  the 
child  to  assume  responsibility.  It  should  be  understood  from 
the  first  that  no  plant  will  be  entered  in  the  final  competition 
that  the  child  himself  has  not  raised.  Parents  are  not  to  water 
or  tend  it ;  that  must  devolve  upon  the  child.  The  work  should 
give  the  pupil  a  realization  of  the  life-process  of  the  plant  and  of 
the  fact  that  the  ultimate  product  of  growth  is  the  fruit.  Here 
are  two  stories  written  by  grade  pupils  telling  of  their  plants. 

When  you  plant  a  nasturtium  seed  you  got  to  water  it.  Then  in  a  few 
days  you  will  see  a  little  thing  like  a  steme.  The  steme  will  keep  getting 
bigger  and  bigger,  then  come  the  leaves.  Then  the  buds  come  out  and  they 
get  bigger  and  bigger,  and  then  they  come  to  flowers,  and  the  flowers  were 
all  colors.  When  the  flowers  went  away  then  what  do  you  think  came,  a 
hole  lot  of  little  seeds  came. 

JESSIE  WARD 
THIRD  GRADE 
February  16,  1906 

THE  NASTURTIUM  SEED 

If  you  should  plant  a  nasturtium  seed  the  first  thing  you  would  see 
would  be  a  little  stem  and  the  next  day  the  leaves  sprout.  When  this 
grows  to  be  a  big  plant  with  leaves  about  as  big  as  a  dollar  the  buds  break 
out  and  forms  flowers.  Then  the  flower  withers  and  more  seeds  come  so 
you  have  seeds  to  plant  for  the  next  year. 

NAOMI  OLSON 
FOURTH  GRADE 
February  16,  1906 


SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS  375 

Fruit  display. — About  the  time  of  the  autumn  harvest  home 
festivities  or  in  the  days  preceding  Thanksgiving  is  a  good  time 
to  introduce  the  study  of  the  fruits.  In  the  studies  of  the 
preceding  chapter  the  children  have  traced  the  connection 
between  the  seed  pod  and  the  pistil  so  that  in  many  cases  they 
know  that  the  fruit  is  the  ripened  ovary.  Probably  in  growing 
their  plants  for  the  flower  show  they  have  watched  the  seed  pods 
form  on  the  nasturtium  or  the  touch-me-not  as  the  flowers 
disappear.  The  garden  in  the  fall  will  furnish  many  sorts  of 
fruits,  some  of  which  they  know  have  developed  from  the  flower. 

It  is  worth  while  having  a  fruit  display  in  the  schoolroom. 
The  nucleus  of  the  display  may  be  gathered  in  the  school  garden, 
where  many  dry  fruits  are  to  be  had  and  some  succulent  ones, 
and  may  be  supplemented  with  those  gathered  in  the  home 
gardens,  orchards,  and  fields.  Many  are  to  be  found  in  the 
autumn  woods.  Even  the  weeds  may  be  brought  into  requisi- 
tion. Such  fruits  as  those  of  the  mallow,  milkweed,  ground 
cherry,  and  purple  stramonium  are  excellent  additions. 

The  seed  container. — The  pupils  are  to  be  led  to  realize  that 
we  are  using  the  term  "  fruit "  in  its  botanical  rather  than  its 
ordinary  sense;  that  which  contains  the  ripened  seeds  is  the 
fruit.  That  this  is  the  ripened  ovary  they  know;  but  what  they 
do  not  know  yet  is  that  often  the  parts  of  the  flowers  adhere  to 
the  ovary  and  help  to  form  the  fruit,  especially  in  the  succulent 
fruits.  This  will  be  clearer  after  a  typical  fruit  is  studied,  but 
for  the  present  we  may  include  in  our  fruit  collection  pumpkins, 
squash,  tomatoes,  and  other  things  that  contain  seeds,  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  the  pupils  have  been  accustomed  to  look  on 
these  as  vegetables  rather  than  fruits.  In  the  city,  where 
vegetable  gardens,  orchards,  and  grainfields  are  not  available 
for  field  trips  on  which  to  gather  fruits,  the  grocery  stores  serve 
as  a  source  of  many  interesting  and  often  more  strange  kinds  of 
fruits  than  the  country  affords. 

Dry  and  succulent  fruits. — Pupils,  in  looking  over  such  a 
display,  are  pretty  sure  to  be  struck  with  certain  facts.  They 


376       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

will  learn  that  fruits  are  readily  divisible  into  two  great  groups : 
(i)  those  that  are  dry,  like  walnuts  in  their  husks,  acorns,  corn, 
pea  and  bean  pods;  (2)  those  that  are  juicy  or  succulent,  like 
apples,  pears,  peaches,  grapes.  Another  striking  fact  is  that 
most  of  the  latter  fruits  are  brightly  colored;  most  of  the  former, 
dull  colored.  A  page  of  water-color  sketches  of  some  of  these 
fruits  will  help  pupils  to  recall  this  fact  and  will  add  an  attractive 
sheet  to  the  notebook.  The  results  may  be  impressionistic 
rather  than  artistic,  but  they  will  serve  to  emphasize  the  brilliant 
colors  of  these  succulent  fruits,  especially  if  contrasted  with 
sketches  of  the  dull  browns  and  greens  of  the  dry  fruits  whose 
capsules  are  still  attached  to  many  of  the  weeds  and  shrubs. 
It  may  be  worth  while  to  have  pupils  list  the  fruits  under  their 
respective  colors  somewhat  as  follows : 

Red  fruits:  Many  apples,  cherries,  some  grapes,  mulberries, 
peaches,  plums,  strawberries,  raspberries,  tomatoes. 

Yellow  and  orange  fruits:  Some  apples,  apricots,  bananas, 
some  cherries,  grape  fruit,  lemons,  oranges,  pears,  persimmons, 
prickly  pears,  pumpkins,  squash. 

Blue  and  pur  pie  fruits:  Blueberry,  huckleberry,  grapes,  plums. 

Black  and  white  fruits:   Blackberry,  grapes,  scallop  squash. 

Green  fruits:  Some  apples,  grapes,  and  all  of  the  foregoing 
before  they  are  ripe. 

Significance  of  color. — The  last  statement  is  one  that  focalizes 
the  attention  of  the  pupils.  That  all  succulent  fruits  are  green 
when  unripe  and  become  brightly  colored  in  ripening  is  a  suffi- 
ciently striking  fact  to  demand  explanation.  The  customary 
explanation  is  that  when  the  fruit  is  ripe  the  fact  is  advertised 
by  the  brilliant  color.  The  attention  of  birds  or  other  animals 
is  thus  attracted  and  the  fruit  is  eaten,  but  since  in  most  cases 
the  seeds  are  inedible  they  are  thrown  away,  as  we  throw  away 
the  core  of  an  apple;  or  they  are  so  well  protected  by  hard  covers 
that  if  eaten  they  pass  through  the  intestinal  canal  of  birds  or 
animals  unharmed  and  are  thus  scattered  broadcast,  as  is  the 
case  with  strawberries,  raspberries,  and  grapes.  Until  the  s^eds 


SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS 


377 


are  mature  enough  to  grow  if  planted  it  would  simply  waste  the 
effort  of  the  plant  to  have  the  fruit  taken;  it  therefore  remains 
green  until  mature  and  is  inconspicuous  among  green  foliage. 
It  is,  moreover,  often  protected  by  a  disagreeable  taste,  as,  for 
instance,  sour  grapes  and  puckery  persimmons. 

The  apple. — Undertake  now  the  study  of  a  single  fruit.  Ask 
each  child  to  bring  an  apple  to  school.  This  will  insure  quite  a 
varied  collection  of  apples,  and  if  each  child  should  know  or  could 
find  out  what  sort  he  brings  the  display  may  help  acquaint  the 
children  with  the  different  kinds  grown  in  the  neighborhood. 
Probably  the  children  of  the  upper  grades  will  know  more  of  the 


FIG.  278. — The  apple  display 

different  sorts  than  the  teacher,  and  there  will  be  a  good  opportu- 
nity to  learn  something  of  apple  varieties  from  the  pupils.  Here 
is  a  list  brought  together  in  one  city,  the  apples  being  raised  in 
the  immediate  vicinity:  Babit,  Baldwin,  Bellflower,  Ben  Davis, 
Delicious,  Gano,  Greening,  Jonathan,  King,  Northern  Spy,  Pough- 
keepsie,  Rambo,  Russet,  Snow,  Spitzenburg,  Tolman  Sweet,  Willow 
Twig,  Winesap,  Wolf  River,  York  Imperial.  If  neither  children 
nor  teacher  can  name  all  varieties  with  certainty,  likely  some 
farmer  or  grocer  will  be  found  who  will  come  to  school  and  name 
them.  He  will  be  willing  to  tell  some  of  the  good  points  of  each 
apple,  how  it  cooks  and  keeps,  and  he  may  tell  something  of  the 
tree's  resistance  to  disease  and  insect  pests,  hardihood,  and 
bearing  qualities  (Fig.  278). 


378       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

The  protective  skin. — If  some  of  the  apples  brought  in  begin 
to  spoil  it  will  be  noted  that  the  decay  begins  at  points  where  the 
skin  is  slightly  broken.  This  naturally  leads  to  the  question  as 
to  why  decay  does  not  start  on  the  skin  itself.  Bring  out,  by 
appropriate  questions  that  stimulate  observation,  the  fact  that 
the  apple  skin  is  tough,  close-grained,  and  full  of  wax.  When 
rubbed  an  apple  takes  a  high  polish,  as  does  a  waxed  floor  or 
piece  of  furniture.  Peel  the  skin  from  a  spot  on  the  apple  and 
notice  that  in  a  very  few  minutes  the  exposed  pulp  begins  to 
change  color.  A  piece  of  apple  without  skin  soon  dries,  so  that 
the  waxy  apple  skin  is  seen  to  prevent  evaporation  and  protect 


FIG.  279. — Sprayed  and  unsprayed  apples 

the  pulp  from  the  weather  and  from  the  inroads  of  the  germs 
that  cause  decay  (Fig.  279). 

Form  and  color. — Note  the  shape  and  color  of  the  apple. 
Have  colored  sketches  made  of  some  of  the  commoner  varieties 
and  let  these  be  properly  named.  Make  sure  that  the  shapes 
of  the  apples  are  correct,  for  any  variety  is  known  by  its  shape 
as  well  as  its  color,  markings,  and  flavor.  In  studying  the  apples 
preparatory  to  drawing  them  some  child  will  discover  that  they 
are  not  uniformly  colored,  being  often  dark  about  the  stem  end 
and  light  at  the  opposite  end  and  the  children  will  readily  see 
that  this  difference  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  sunlight  strikes 
one  end  more  than  the  other.  They  will  recall  that  the  human 
skin  has  its  color  intensified  by  exposure  to  the  sunlight.  The 


SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS  379 

blueprints  of  flowers  which  can  be  made  in  connection  with  the 
work  on  weeds  will  give  them  another  instance  in  which  light 
affects  color  changes.  Certain  spots  on  apples  which  are  very 
much  lighter  than  the  general  color  are  usually  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  apples  have  grown  in  clusters  and  have  been  protected 
where  they  were  in  contact.  This  character  is  often  a  means  of 
telling  varieties  that  do  cluster  in  growth  from  others  much  like 
them  that  hang  singly  on  the  tree. 

Flower  to  fruit. — Examine  both  the  stem  end  and  the  opposite 
end  closely.  Probably  the  child  will  not  know  what  the  five 
pointed  scales  at  one  end  of  the  apple  are,  and  unless  the  children 
have  already  observed  the  growth  of  the  apple  on  the  tree  it  will 
be  wise  to  let  this  point  go  until  spring.  Then  watch  the  apples 
form,  noting  that  the  parts  of  the  apple  flower  are  in  fives,  that 
there  are  five  petals,  five  sepals,  ten  stamens,  and  the  ovary  with 
five  cells  in  which  the  ovules  lie.  The  parts  of  the  flower  fall  or 
wither,  except  the  pistil  and  the  calyx,  and  the  former  is  inclosed 
by  the  latter.  The  calyx  adheres  to  the  surface  of  the  ovary, 
swells  up,  and  becomes  the  succulent  part  of  the  apple,  while 
the  pistil  makes  up  the  core.  If  cultivated  apples  are  not 
available  for  observation,  wild  crab  apples,  thorn  apples,  or  the 
fruit  of  the  mountain  ash  may  be  watched  as  it  forms.  Some  of 
these  latter  trees  are  usually  available  in  city  parks. 

The  pulp. — Have  the  pupils  cut  their  apples  open.  Let  one 
of  each  two  pupils  cut  his  apple  lengthwise  from  stem  to  tip 
and  the  other  cut  his  open  by  slicing  through  the  equator  of  the 
apple.  Then  let  them  exchange  halves  so  that  each  pupil  will 
have  a  half  from  an  apple  cut  in  each  way.  Let  the  pupils 
sketch  these.  Note  that  at  the  center  there  are  five  cavities 
containing  seeds.  These  are  walled  with  thin  but  tenacious 
plates  that  are  the  disagreeable  elements  of  the  core.  Some 
pupil  will  be  sure  to  see  the  ten  dots  in  the  pulp  in  the  cross- 
section,  and  may  be  told  to  look  on  the  longitudinal  section  for 
an  explanation  of  these.  There  will  be  seen  fibrous  strands 
running  from  the  stem  through  the  pulp  to  the  scales  at  tV 


380       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


apple's  tip.  These  scales  we  know,  from  watching  the  fruit  form, 
are  the  tips  of  the  sepals,  and  the  fibrous  strands  are  the  fibro- 
vascular  bundles  of  the  sepals,  through  which  much  of  the 
material  for  growth  was  brought  to  the  forming  fruit. 


FIG.  280. — Bean  seedlings:  a,  soaked  seed,  one  cotyledon  removed;  b,  young 
seedling,  one  cotyledon  removed;  c,  older  seedling. 

A  simple  germinator. — As  the  child  himself  is  a  bundle  of 
activities  he  is  interested  in  seedlings  largely  because  they  are 
active,  growing  things.  At  the  beginning  of  our  study  of  seeds 
and  seedlings,  therefore,  it  will  be  wise  to  devote  considerable 


SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS  381 

time  to  just  watching  them  grow  (Fig.  280).  Cut  two  or  three 
strips  of  blotting  paper  and  one  of  black  calico  nearly  as  wide  as 
a  tumbler  is  deep  and  long  enough  to  go  round  the  tumbler. 
Moisten  them  and  put  them  in  the  tumbler,  the  cloth  strip  next 
to  the  glass  and  the  two  or  three  thicknesses  of  blotting  paper 
all  around  inside  of  the  cloth.  Insert  two  of  each  of  the  following 
seeds  between  the  glass  and  the  cloth  two  inches  below  the  top 
of  the  tumbler:  pea,  bean,  sunflower,  nasturtium,  castor  bean, 
morning-glory,  pumpkin,  oat,  corn.  Let  each  pupil  prepare  such 


FIG.  281. — Tumbler  germinator:  just  planted  at  left,  well  started  at  right 

a  growing  device.  Keep  some  water  in  the  bottom  of  the 
tumbler.  Cover  the  tumbler  with  a  piece  of  cardboard  or  tin 
while  the  seeds  are  germinating  (Fig.  281).  The  children  of  the 
lower  grades  need  try  only  a  few  seeds.  As  the  seeds  germinate 
all  steps  in  the  process  are  readily  seen,  even  the  delicate  roots 
showing  well  against  the  black  background.  In  the  upper 
grades  let  the  pupils  keep  written  records  of  all  that  they  observe. 
Let  each  child  be  supplied  with  a  small  oox  or  pan,  filled 
two-thirds  full  of  fine  sawdust  or  sand.  In  some  schools  granite- 
ware  pans  are  supplied  to  pupils  for  this  work.  They  are  sani- 
tary and  do  not  stain  desk  tops.  In  this  pan  let  the  children 


382       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

plant  beans,  peas,  corn,  oats,  pumpkin,  and  pine  seeds.  Put  one 
or  two  of  each  kind  of  seed  below  the  surface  and  leave  as  many 
of  each  lying  on  the  top  of  the  sawdust  or  sand.  Dampen  the 
sawdust  with  water  and  keep  it  moist  but  not  wet.  Cover  the 
box  or  pan  with  glass  or  tin  and  watch,  very  closely,  all  that 
happens.  Let  the  upper-grade  pupils  keep  careful  record  of  all 
that  is  observed,  with  sketches  to  illustrate  the  various  stages. 
How  the  seedling  gets  into  the  ground. — It  is  quite  a  problem 
that  confronts  the  little  plant — to  get  out  of  its  seed  coat,  send 


FIG.  282. — Root  hairs  of  the  radish 

roots  into  the  soil,  expand  leaves  in  the  air  above,  and  become  so 
established  that  it  may  live  and  prosper.  Try  this  experiment : 
Fill  a  pot  or  pint  jar  half  full  of  moist  sand  and  sprinkle  some 
radish  seed  on  this  sand.  Cover  the  pot  or  jar  and  watch  the 
seeds  as  they  grow.  Their  roots  will  show  the  delicate  root  hairs 
(Fig.  282)  that  help  hold  the  plant  in  the  soil  and  that  absorb 
the  moisture  with  its  contained  nutrition.  Lift  one  of  the  radish 
seedlings  that  is  growing  on  the  sand.  See  how  the  soil  particles 
are  held  by  the  plant.  When  you  pull  up  a  plant  by  the  roots, 
you  do  not  see  these  delicate  root  hairs  because  they  pull  off  so 


SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS  383 

easily.  All  plants  depend  on  these  minute  hairs  on  their  roots 
for  their  water  supply;  for  this  reason  a  transplanted  plant  is 
likely  to  wilt,  since  these  essential  root  hairs  are  destroyed  unless 
great  care  is  taken.  Like  the  leaves  they  are  shed  each  fall  and 
renewed  each  spring  in  annuals  or  in  deciduous  plants.  The  best 
time  to  transplant  trees  is  therefore  late  fall  or  very  early  spring 
— though  the  evergreens  transplant  best  in  midsummer,  when 
their  leaves  and  root  hairs  are  renewed. 

A  seed  race. — Let  us  get  ready  for  a  pea  and  bean  race. 
Oh,  no !  It  is  not  like  a  potato  race.  The  children  are  not  to  do 
the  running,  but  are  the  passive  participants  in  the  fun, 
for  the  seeds  will  do  the  running  this  time.  No,  I  do  not 
think  betting  on  the  race  will  be  in  order,  but  I  would  like 
to  have  you  guess  which  will  win  and  then  be  able  to  tell 
me  why  you  think  so.  First,  we  shall  prepare  the  contestants. 
Soak  a  few  perfect  peas  and  beans  overnight.  Stretch  a  piece 
of  thin  cheesecloth  or  bobbinet  tightly  over  the  mouth  of  a  small 
tumbler  and  tie  it  in  place  with  string.  Lay  the  peas  and  beans 
on  this  and  then  fill  the  glass  with  water  so  that  the  water  just 
touches  the  seeds.  Then  cover  the  glass  with  a  larger  tumbler  or 
a  glass  fruit  jar.  This  is  another  simple  yet  impressive  way  of 
germinating  seeds.  If  preferred  the  racers  may  be  started  in 
the  sawdust  pans. 

Fix  three  tumblers  like  the  small  one  on  page  381  with  a  cloth 
over  the  mouth  of  each.  Fill  one  nearly  full  of  water  in  which  has 
been  dissolved  half  as  much  potassium  sulphate  as  you  can  pile 
on  a  dime.  Fill  another  with  water  in  which  has  been  dissolved 
a  like  amount  of  sodium  nitrate.  In  the  third  tumbler  put  half 
as  much  of  each  of  the  above  and  a  bit  of  iron  sulphate  as  big  as 
the  head  of  a  pin.  These  chemicals  may  be  had  of  the  druggist. 
Fill  a  fourth  tumbler  with  good  rich  soil.  When  the  beans  and 
peas  are  well  sprouted  so  that  the  root  is  an  inch  or  two  long  make 
two  little  holes  in  the  cheesecloth  near  the  edge,  on  opposite 
sides  of  each  tumbler.  Put  the  root  of  a  pea  through  one  hole 
and  the  root  of  a  bean  through  the  other  so  that  they  will  dip 


384       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

into  the  solutions.  Plant  a  co^fple  of  the  seedlings  on  opposite 
sides  of  the  tumbler  containing  the  earth  and  keep  this  moistened 
with  water.  Set  them  all  together  where  they  will  have  the 
same  light  and  heat.  Beside  each  little  plant  tie  a  small  upright 
stick  a  foot  long  to  the  tumbler.  Let  the  children  mark  off 
six-inch  scales,  divided  into  eighths  of  an  inch,  on  some  strips  of 
stiff  paper  and  fasten  one  of  these  to  each  stick  so  that  the  begin- 
ning of  the  scale  will  be  just  back  of  the  tip  of  the  plant.  We  are 
then  ready  to  watch  the  race.  Slow  ?  Oh,  yes,  but  so  was  that 
race  in  which  the  tortoise  took  part.  There  may  be  surprises  in 
this  race,  too. 

What  the  race  means. — This  race  will  be  meaningless  to  the 
lower  grades,  but  the  grades  above  the  fourth  will  profit  by  it, 
the  older  pupils  seeing  more  significance  in  it  than  the  younger 
ones.  Thus  fifth-grade  pupils  will  probably  realize  only  that  you 
can  put  things  into  water  that  will  make  plants  grow  rapidly. 
But  eighth-grade  pupils  should  readily  infer  that  the  essential 
things  in  a  fertilizer  are  compounds  of  a  few  elements,  some  of 
which  we  have  introduced  into  the  tumblers.  These  are  potassium 
calcium,  magnesium,  iron,  nitrogen,  phosphorus,  and  sulphur. 
These  they  should  know.  They  should  be  able  from  the  experi- 
ment to  decide  which  are  the  more  important  (Fig.  283). 

Seed  growth. — Review  the  records  the  pupils  have  been 
making  of  the  growth  of  seeds  in  tumblers  and  in  pans  of  sand 
or  sawdust.  Which  of  these  seeds  first  showed  any  sign  of 
growing  ?  What  first  showed  in  the  beans  that  were  laid  on  the 
top  of  the  soil?  What  part  of  the  bean  seed  does  this  little, 
sharp,  growing  point  come  from  ?  What  became  of  it  ?  After 
it  had  succeeded  in  getting  down  into  the  soil  what  became  of  the 
rest  of  the  seed  ? 

Parts  of  a  baby  bean. — Have  the  large  bean  plants  lost  the 
coverings  of  the  seeds  entirely?  Point  out  the  cotyledons. 
Watch  to  see  what  becomes  of  them.  If  some  of  the  bean  seed- 
lings in  your  growing-pan  are  just  splitting  open,  yqu  can  peek 
in  between  the  cotyledons  and  see  that  there  is  a  little  bud  from 


SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS  385 

which  the  leaves  grow.  This  bud  is  the  plumule.  In  the  course 
of  two  weeks  let  drawings  be  made  of  (i)  the  bean  seed  just 
starting,  (2)  the  seedling  before  the  plumule  appears,  (3)  an  old 
seedling  showing  cotyledons  and  the  early  foliage  leaves.  Make 
similar  drawings  of  several  stages  of  the  growing  pea,  castor-oil 
bean,  corn,  and  oat  (see  Fig.  280). 

How  much  seeds  swell. — You  will  realize,  by  this  time,  that 
a  seed  is  a  little  plant  imprisoned  within  hard  walls.  Sometimes 
seeds  are  very  hard  and  strong.  Take  a  dry  lima  bean  and  lay 
it  on  a  piece  of  paper;  trace  its  exact  outline  with  a  pencil,  then 


123  45 

FIG.  283. — Growing  plants  in  pots  to  show  effects  of  soil  elements:  5  contains 
sand  and  iron  sulphate;  4,  calcium  sulphate;  3,  potassium  sulphate;  2,  sodium 
nitrate;  i,  all  combined. 

put  it  into  water  and  let  it  soak  overnight.  Take  it  out,  dry 
it  off,  and  place  it  on  the  paper  again,  beside  the  first  drawing, 
and  trace  its  outline.  How  much  larger  has  it  become  ?  Is  its 
seed  coat  torn?  You  can  find  the  little  hole  in  the  seed  coat 
through  which  water  gets  in  if  you  wipe  dry  the  surface  of  the 
soaked  seed  and  then  squeeze  it  a  little  to  see  at  what  point 
water  is  oozing  out. 

Select  twenty  good-sized  lima  beans  and  measure  their 
volume  in  the  same  way  that  Archimedes  found  out  the  volume 
of  the  king's  crown.  Soak  the  seeds  in  a  measured  volume  of 
water  for  twenty-four  hours ;  then  pour  off  the  water  and  measure 


386       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

it.  How  much  water  have  they  absorbed?  Again  measure 
the  volume  of  the  swollen  seeds.  How  much  have  they  increased 
in  volume?  If  seeds  were  planted  in  the  ground,  would  this 
swelling  be  of  any  advantage  to  the  plant  in  its  effort  to  get  out 
of  the  ground? 

The  expansive  force  of  swelling  seeds. — To  show  that  the 
swelling  seed  exerts  strong  pressure,  fill  a  narrow-mouthed  bottle 
with  dry  peas.  Then  put  it  under  water  in  a  pan  and  let  it 
remain  for  several  hours.  What  happens  ?  Of  what  use  is  this 
expansive  power  to  the  germinating  seed  ?  Let  the  upper-grade 
pupils  try  to  devise  an  experiment  that  will  measure  this  force 
more  exactly. 

The  tiny  root — At  what  point  does  the  growing  root  break 
out  of  the  seed  coat  ?  To  determine  this,  watch  beans  that  are 
germinating  on  the  surface,  like  those  we  planted  on  the  soil  in 
the  covered  pot.  Probably  most  pupils  will  have  a  record  of 
this  for  many  of  the  seeds  that  are  studied.  How  is  the  tip  of 
the  growing  root  related  to  the  little  hole,  the  micropyle,  through 
which  the  water  is  absorbed  ?  What  is  the  shape  of  this  growing 
tip  ?  Is  this  a  good  shape  for  forcing  the  way  through  the  tough 
seed  coat  ? 

How  the  pumpin  gets  into  the  ground. — You  have  been 
watching  a  number  of  seeds  that  were  simply  laid  on  the  moist 
soil.  Many  seeds,  out  of  doors,  find  themselves  thus  scattered 
upon  the  surface  and  the  little  seedlings  must  get  into  the  earth. 
How  do  the  pumpkin  seeds  force  their  sharp  radicles  into  the 
sand  ?  It  takes  an  appreciable  pressure  to  force  a  pencil  point 
into  soft  soil.  How  does  the  seed  exert  this  pressure  on  the 
growing  root  tip.  The  pumpkin  seeds  will  answer  this  question 
in  part  and  the  radish  seeds  will  show  you  how  light  seeds 
accomplish  the  task.  In  the  former  one  end  of  the  seed  is  raised 
off  the  surface  of  the  soil  by  the  growing  root  until  the  weight 
of  the  seed  suffices  to  push  the  root  tip  into  the  soil.  In  light 
seeds  the  root  must  lay  hold  of  many  soil  particles  by  means  of 


SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS  387 

the  root  hairs  until  it  has  a  firm  enough  grip  to  hold  while  the 
tip  grows  down  into  the  soil. 

How  sprouts  break  through  the  soil. — Many  seeds  are  buried 
by  the  shifting  dirt  which  is  blown  about  by  the  winds  or  by  the 
mud  washed  over  them  in  spring  storms.  Then  the  problem 
before  the  seed  is  not  alone  how  to  force  its  root  into  the  hard  soil, 
but  also  how  to  get  its  leaves  up  into  the  air  and  light.  Look  at 
your  sketches  of  the  corn  plant  just  sprouting  and  of  the  castor- 
oil  bean  in  its  early  stages.  How  is  the  corn  sprout  adapted  to 
get  up  through  the  soil  ?  Does  a  castor-oil  or  a  lima-bean  stem 
shove  its  cotyledons  up  or  pull  them  up  out  of  the  ground  ?  Can 
you  devise  a  means  of  measuring  the  upthrust  of  a  corn  plant 
just  breaking  through  the  soil  ? 

Can  a  seedling  take  its  coat  of? — We  have  seen  how  the 
little  root  breaks  through  the  seed  coats  and  penetrates  the  soil, 
how  the  stem  pushes  its  way  out  of  the  earth  in  seeds  that  are 
buried.  Let  us  observe  some  devices  that  the  seedlings  have  for 
getting  rid  of  the  adhering  seed  coats.  In  some  cases  the  seed 
coats  are  left  below  ground  and  the  cotyledons  are  dragged  out 
of  them  while  they  are  held  by  the  surrounding  soil.  What 
seedlings  that  we  have  watched  remove  the  seed  coats  in  this 
way  ?  Other  seeds  have  to  adopt  special  devices  for  forcing  off 
the  persistent  seed  coats.  Plant  sunflower  and  squash  seeds  on 
the  surface  of  the  soil  in  your  box  after  they  have  been  soaked 
overnight.  Keep  the  box  covered  with  glass  or  a  board.  Watch 
them  as  they  germinate  and  see  if  you  can  detect  their  devices 
for  ridding  themselves  of  their  seed  coats.  Put  your  hands 
together,  palm  to  palm.  Have  someone  slip  a  rubber  band 
about  both  hands.  Now  try  to  get  it  off  without  taking  hold  of 
it.  Perhaps  this  will  help  you  to  appreciate  the  sunflower's 
method.  The  peg  that  the  squash  develops  needs  only  be  seen 
to  be  understood. 

In  the  heart  of  a  seed 

Buried  deep,  so  deep, 
A  dear  little  plant 

Lay  fast  asleep. 


388       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

"Wake,"  said  the  sunshine, 
"And  creep  to  the  light." 
"Wake,"  said  the  voice 
Of  the  raindrops  bright. 

The  little  plant  heard, 

And  it  rose  to  see 
What  the  wonderful 

Outside  world  might  be.1 

Now  that  we  have  grown  familiar  with  the  plants' 
appearances  as  they  rise  "to  see  what  the  wonderful  outside 
world  might  be,"  let  us  also  peep  at  them  before  they  wake  up, 
while  they  are  still  fast  asleep  in  their  cradles. 

Seed  structure. — Put  some  lima  beans,  or  any  large  beans,  to 
soak  overnight.  Let  each  pupil  have  several  at  the  nature- 
study  period.  On  the  concave  side  of  the  seed  notice  the  scar 
left  by  detaching  the  bean  from  its  stalk  in  the  pod;  this  scar  is 
named  the  hilum.  What  is  the  relation  of  the  micropyle  to  the 
hilum  ?  With  a  knife  or  pin  point  cut  the  seed  coat  along  the 
convex  edge  and  remove  it,  noting,  as  this  is  done,  where  the  seed 
coat  adheres  to  the  inner  portions.  Is  this  point  marked  on  the 
outside  in  any  way  ?  Cut  off  one  cotyledon  close  to  its  attach- 
ment to  the  rudimentary  stem.  Examine  the  plumule  closely. 
Of  what  does  it  consist?  Let  the  pupils  draw  this  embryo, 
cotyledon,  plumule,  and  hypocotyl. 

Food  for  growth. — Obtain  a  little  tincture  of  iodine  or  a 
solution  of  chloriodide  of  zinc.  Put  a  pinch  of  starch  in  a  cup; 
add  a  tablespoonful  of  water  and  stir  it,  then  drop  in  a  drop  or 
two  of  the  iodine  solution.  Iodine  always  stains  starch  blue,  and 
this  is  quite  a  sure  test  for  starch.  If  a  drop  of  the  iodine  is 
put  on  the  freshly  broken  surface  of  a  bean  cotyledon  the  blue 
color  indicates  the  presence  of  starch.  If  the  iodine  is  too  strong 
the  color  is  black  instead  of  blue,  and  the  solution  should  be 
diluted.  Perhaps  you  have  been  surprised  in  watching  you? 

1  From  the  Plant  Baby  and  Its  Friends,  by  Kate  L.  Brown. 


SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS  389 

seedlings  grow  to  note  how  rapidly  they  shoot  up.  They  could 
not  do  this  if  it  were  not  for  the  food  materials  stored  within  the 
seed  by  the  parent  plant  for  its  baby.  In  the  bean  this  food  is 
stored  in  the  cotyledons. 

An  experiment  with  the  cotyledons. — Plant  several  beans 
in  a  pot;  then  when  the  young  plants  have  appeared  and  the 
cotyledons  are  expanding  cut  one  cotyledon  off  of  each  of  two 
plants,  cut  both  off  of  two  plants,  and  leave  both  on  two  plants. 
Which  plants  grow  fastest  ? 

We  eat  beans  and  peas  because  the  foods  the  plants  stored  up 
for  their  babes  in  the  seeds  serve  us  quite  as  well.  What  other 
seeds  do  we  eat,  either  whole  or  ground?  Can  you  think  of 
some  animals  that  live  largely  on  seeds  ?  Starch  is  not  the  only 
food  material  furnished  to  the  little  plant.  Break  in  half  the 
kernel  of  a  Brazil  nut,  then  fasten  it  on  a  sharp  stick,  broken  end 
up,  and  light  the  broken  end  with  a  match.  It  burns  readily, 
for  the  seed  contains  much  oil.  Crush  the  other  half  on  a  piece 
of  white  paper  and  note  if  it  makes  a  grease  spot.  Crush  a 
castor-oil  bean  in  the  same  manner  and  note  what  squeezes  out 
of  it.  What  other  oils  are  obtained  from  seeds  ?  If  you  burn 
peas  or  beans  you  note  the  same  odor  that  is  characteristic  of 
burning  meat,  for  both  contain  protein,  the  nutritive  substance 
that  makes  up  so  large  a  part  of  meat. 

Structure  of  other  seeds. — Examine  the  pea,  after  soaking, 
and  compare  with  the  bean.  Which  has  the  heavier  cotyledons 
in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  whole  seed  ?  Which  seed  leaves 
its  cotyledons  below  ground  when  it  germinates  ?  Do  the  bean 
cotyledons  turn  green  when  the  seedling  is  growing  ?  Are  the 
sunflower  cotyledons  thickened  ?  Do  they  appear  like  leaves  ? 
Do  the  castor-oil  cotyledons  on  germinated  seeds  look  like 
leaves?  Remove  the  tough  outer  coat  of  a  castor-oil  bean  or 
morning-glory  seed  and  cut  across  the  kernel,  thus  disclosing 
a  flattened  cavity  bounded  on  each  side  by  a  thin  white  line. 
Cut  about  the  edge  of  a  kernel  so  as  to  split  it  in  the  plane  of 
this  cavity.  At  one  end  will  be  seen  the  rudimentary  stem 


3QO       SOURCE  BOOK  OP  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

(hypocotyl)  and  the  plumule.  The  veins  on  the  thin  structures 
that  line  the  cavity  will  show  them  to  be  leaves  and  a  com- 
parison with  the  germinating  seeds  will  prove  them  the  coty- 
ledons. You  will  see  that  in  the  castor-oil  bean  the  nutritive 
material  is  stored  around  the  embryo  instead  of  in  its  cotyledons. 

Corn. — Study  corn  that  has  been  put  to  soak  in  warm  water 
overnight.  The  embryo  is  found  on  one  flat  face.  Pare  away 
this  face  with  a  sharp  knife,  removing  the  seed  coats.  The 
embryo  is  surrounded  here  by  food  material  (endosperm). 
Test  it  for  starch.  Compare  your  drawings  of  the  germinating 
corn  with  the  seed  and  you  will  determine  readily  which  is  the 
plumule  and  which  the  radicle.  In  the  growth  of  the  corn  did 
the  leaves  appear  singly  or  in  pairs,  like  the  bean  ?  The  corn  is 
a  type  of  the  monocotyledonous  seeds.  The  cotyledon  is  the 
organ  with  the  oval  outline  seen  in  the  kernel  that  we  have 
prepared.'  It  remains  in  the  seed  in  this  case  to  absorb  the  food 
material  for  the  growing  plant. 

Pine  seed. — Remove  the  seed  coats  from  a  sugar-pine  seed. 
Carefully  split  the  kernel  longitudinally.  Does  the  embryo 
contain  the  food  material  or  is  it  surrounded  by  the  endosperm  ? 
The  seedlings  of  pine  have  several  cotyledons,  as  you  may  see  in 
those  planted  several  weeks  ago  that  are  now  probably  germi- 
nating. These  several  cotyledons  are  readily  seen  in  the  embryo. 

In  this  study  of  the  seeds  let  constant  reference  be  made  to 
the  seedlings  already  studied,  sc  that  the  structures  seen  in  the 
seeds  may  be  interpreted  in  terms  of  the  larger  and  plainer 
structure  of  the  seedlings.  Let  teachers  select  from  the  outline 
above  what  is  best  suited  to  their  grades.  The  lower  grades 
would  best  emphasize  the  protection  and  food  furnished  for  the 
baby  plants.  Intermediate  grades  will  add  the  careful  study 
of  two  or  three  seeds:  bean,  castor-oil  seed,  corn.  The  higher 
grades  may  well  make  a  comparative  study  in  detail  with  draw- 
ings to  show  the  parts  and  their  arrangement. 

Plant  activity. — We  spend  much  time  while  studying  human 
physiology  in  observing  the  normal  behavior  of  a  typical  animal 


SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS  391 

but  ignore  almost  totally  in  school  the  normal  activity  of  the 
plant.  Yet  the  majority  of  pupils,  in  the  rural  school  districts 
at  least,  are  very  dependent  for  their  happiness  and  livelihood 
upon  a  knowledge  of  the  fundamental  life-processes  in  the  plant. 
The  plant  lends  itself  so  easily  to  experimentation,  even  in 
unskilled  hands,  that  a  child  may  readily  be  led  to  comprehend  a 
few  basal  laws  of  plant  growth  that  will  make  clear  the  purpose 
of  a  multitude  of  agricultural  processes. 

Boys  and  girls  as  producers. — We  have  long  realized  that 
"experience  is  the  best  teacher."  There  is  no  reason  why  the 
experiences  that  confront  the  boy  or  girl  just  out  of  school  may 
not  become  familiar  while  the  pupil  is  in  school.  The  problem 
of  production  is  the  first  one  to  be  settled  by  every  individual 
as  he  takes  his  place  in  the  community.  Until  he  can  produce 
enough  to  be  self-supporting  he  is  a  hindrance  and  not  a  help. 
To  increase  production  is  one  of  the  great  tasks  of  the  race. 
Increased  production,  other  things  being  equal,  means  lessened 
prices  on  commodities  and  more  of  the  comforts  of  life  for  all. 
That  the  boy  and  girl  of  school  age  can  attack  these  problems 
successfully  is  evident  from  the  recent  success  of  the  corn-club 
movement,  the  tomato  clubs,  and  the  pig  clubs. 

Pig  clubs. — It  was  a  ten-year-old  schoolboy,  Corson  Sullivan, 
of  Natchitoches  Parish,  Louisiana,  who  won  the  state  sweep- 
stakes and  four  other  prizes  with  his  pig.  Alice  McCoy,  thirteen 
years  old,  of  Blanchard,  Caddo  Parish,  in  the  same  state,  took 
the  grand  championship  prize  with  an  eleven-months-old  Berk- 
shire weighing  500  pounds.  Orange  McGee,  of  Goldonna, 
Louisiana,  was  the  pioneer  in  boys'  pig-club  work.  He  showed  a 
pig  at  the  state  fair  in  1910  that  weighed  485  pounds,  reared  at  a 
cost  of  3 . 2  cents  per  pound.  Evans  Jackson,  the  boy  champion 
of  Georgia  for  1917,  raised  his  at  a  cost  of  3  .4  cents  per  pound. 
The  winner  of  the  Texas  baby  beef  championship  was  Howard 
Hale,  of  Midland,  who  was  nine  years  old.  There  were  744  boys 
and  girls  in  these  baby-beef  clubs  who  averaged  $63.74  per 
creature  at  marketing.  The  aim  of  the  pig  boys  is  to  banish  the 


392        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

scrub  razorback  by  substituting  the  thoroughbred  and  to 
"  market  the  corn  on  four  legs  instead  of  on  four  wheels. "  The 
baby-beef  clubs  aim  to  sell  grown  cattle  instead  of  calves. 

Canning  clubs. — The  girls  have  taken  the  lead  in  the  work 
of  the  tomato  clubs  or  canning  clubs  (Figs.  284  and  285), 
although  there  are  many  boy  members  of  these  too.  Massachu- 
setts alone  has  over  50,000  boys  and  girls  in  these  clubs  who  are 


FIG.  284. — Colored  girl  canning  tomatoes  (photograph  from  Department  of 
•iculture,  Washington,  D.C.). 


Agricult 

utilizing  back  yards,  vacant  lots,  and  spare  patches  of  farm  lands 
for  raising  their  vegetables  and  fruits  to  can.  In  1914,  102  girls 
in  Hamilton  County,  Tennessee,  raised  121,822  pounds  of 
tomatoes,  each  cultivating  one-tenth  acre;  33  girls  in  Bennett 
County,  South  Carolina,  earned  a  profit  of  $3,327.68.  This 
takes  into  account  rent  of  land,  cost  of  fertilizer,  cultivation, 
cans,  labels,  and  cost  of  preserving.  Helen  Durham,  ten  years 
old,  still  holds  the  title  for  variety  of  canned  goods,  having  put 


SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS 


393 


up  99  different  sorts  of  fruits,  vegetables,  and  meats  in  a  single 
season. 

Corn  clubs. — All  of  this  movement  to  interest  and  instruct 
the  boys  and  girls  in  really  important  economic,  educative 
projects  had  its  inception  in  the  starting  of  corn  clubs.  The 
pioneer  champion  is  Jerry  Moore,  who  in  1910  made  a  record  of 


FIG.  285. — Home  canning  club  member  showing  how  she  uses  a  common  wash 
boiler  for  a  canning  outfit  by  simply  providing  a  false  bottom  or  blanching  crate 
and  using  a  cover  cloth  to  make  the  cover  tight  so  as  to  conserve  heat  (photograph 
from  Department  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.C.). 

two  hundred  twenty-eight  and  a  fraction  bushels  of  corn  on  an 
acre  of  ground  in  South  Carolina,  when  the  average  corn  crop 
of  his  state  was  only  thirteen  bushels  to  the  acre.  Since  then 
thousands  of  boys  and  girls  have  joined  the  clubs.  Over  a 
hundred  boys  in  Georgia  in  1914  did  better  than  a  hundred 
bushels  of  corn  to  the  acre.  The  boy  champion  for  the  year 
1913,  Walter  Lee  Dunson,  was  of  the  same  state;  he  beat  Jerry 


394       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Moore's  record  with  a  production  of  232 .7  bushels  on  his  acre, 
raised  at  a  cost  of  20  cents  per  bushel.  This  record  remains  un- 
beaten by  any  boy.  The  average  yield  in  the  state  that  year 
was  15.5  bushels.  The  average  yield  per  acre  in  the  United 
States  for  the  year  1918  was  only  20.4  bushels  per  acre.  What 
possibilities  the  work  of  these  boys  reveals ! 

Rule  o*  thumb  against  science. — These  achievements  have 
been  possible  because  state  and  county  supervisors  working 
in  conjunction  with  the  Department  of  Agriculture  experts  have 
taught  these  boys  and  girls  how  to  go  about  the  work  scien- 
tifically, applying  to  their  problems  a  knowledge  of  the  simple 
principles  that  underlie  animal  and  plant  activity  and  growth, 
instead  of  going  about  the  work  by  the  old  rule-o'-thumb 
methods  so  long  in  vogue  and  so  relatively  unsuccessful.  The 
successful  farmer  today  must  be  scientific,  meeting  new  situa- 
tions with  intelligence.  The  average  farmer  still  does  as  did  his 
father  and  grandfather  before  him,  planting,  cultivating,  harvest- 
ing in  a  particular  manner  and  at  stated  times,  not  because  he 
understands  why  but  because  it  is  customary.  Let  an  unusual 
situation  arise,  a  year  of  sustained  drought  or  of  unusual  rains, 
and  he  stands  by  helplessly  and  watches  his  crop  go  to  ruin, 
unless  some  expert  is  sent  out  to  tell  him  what  to  do.  Even 
the  back-yard  gardener  can  make  his  little  kitchen  garden  pay 
many  fold  better  if  he  knows  how.  This  knowing  how  is  largely 
a  matter  of  understanding  the  simple  life-activities  of  the  plant 
and  certain  very  essential  yet  wholly  elementary  principles  of 
soil  structure  and  reaction.  It  seems  eminently  desirable  that 
every  child  in  the  upper  grades  should  understand  these  things 
reasonably  well.  The  experiments  already  outlined  and  those 
still  to  be  presented  have  been  tried  repeatedly  with  grade  pupils 
and  are  within  their  comprehension.  Some  may  be  presented 
in  the  lower  grades;  many  only  in  the  upper. 

Water  rises  in  plant  stem. — To  show  that  water  passes  up 
the  stem  of  a  plant  and  out  of  its  leaves,  cut  from  a  maple,  oak, 
or  poplar  tree  a  spray  of  leaves  with  a  stem  several  inches  long, 


SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS  395 

or  use  a  growing  bean  plant  with  several  leaves,  or  a  corn  plant. 
Stick  it  immediately  into  a  long-necked  bottle  or  flask  that  is 
nearly  full  of  water.  Cut  the  cork  of  the  bottle  in  half  and  cut 
out  a  groove  in  each  half  so  that  when  the  halves  are  put  together 
a  hole  will  be  formed  in  the  cork  through  which  the  stem  may  be 
passed.  This  should  reach  well  down  in  the  bottle.  If  the  stem 
does  not  fit  closely  into  the  hole  in  the  cork  fill  up  the  chinks 
with  gum  so  that  no  air  will  be  admitted.  Mark  the  height  of 
the  water  in  the  neck  of  the  bottle  by  a  strip  of  paper  pasted  on 
the  outside  and  put  the  date  on  the  strip.  Set  up  a  similar 
experiment  with  a  second  plant  of  the  same  sort,  only  pick  off 
most  of  the  leaves.  Let  the  two  bottles  stand  side  by  side  for 
several  days.  The  water  disappears  from  both  bottles  but  most 
rapidly  from  the  one  with  the  plant  having  most  leaf  surface. 

Water  passes  from  leaves. — Cover  the  bottle  and  twig 
bearing  many  leaves  with  a  clean  two-quart  fruit  jar.  The 
water  escaping  from  the  plant  will  form  a  mist  on  the  glass, 
showing  that  the  water  is  not  only  passing  into  the  plant  but 
that  it  is  also  coming  out  of  it  into  the  surrounding  air.  Measure 
the  amount  of  water  that  evaporated  from  the  bottle  in  the 
several  days  that  the  experiment  stood.  Let  us  suppose  it  is 
a  fluid  ounce.  Pick  the  leaves  from  the  plant  and  spread  them 
on  the  table  fitting  them  together  so  as  to  cover  an  area  that  can 
be  measured.  Suppose  the  leaves  cover  a  space  4  by  10  inches. 
Then  forty  inches  of  leaf  area  has  given  off  one  ounce  of  water  in, 
we  will  say,  five  days. 

Transpiration  of  a  tree. — Count  the  number  of  leaves  on  a 
small  twig  of  some  good-sized  tree;  then  count  the  number  of 
such  twigs  on  an  average  small  branch,  the  number  of  such 
branches  on  a  big  branch,  and  finally  note  the  number  of  big 
branches  on  the  entire  tree.  By  multiplying  these  several 
numbers  a  rough  estimate  can  be  made  of  the  number  of  leaves 
on  the  tree.  A  large  white  oak  was  estimated  to  bear  750,000 
leaves.  Supposing  that  the  whole  tree  gives  off  water  at  the  rate 
we  have  obtained  for  the  one  spray,  how  much  will  a  good-sized 


396       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


tree  give  off  in  a  day's  time  ?    There  are  sixteen  fluid  ounces  to 
the  pint  and  a  pint  of  water  weighs  about  a  pound. 

The  breathing  pores  of  a  leaf. — When  the  skin  of  the  leaf  is 
examined  under  a  microscope,  the  cells  of  the  epidermis  will  be 
seen,  containing  little  or  no  green  coloring  matter.  At  frequent 
intervals  among  these  are  the  stomata,  which  are  openings 
through  the  epidermis  leading  into  the  interior  of  the  leaf. 
Each  opening  is  guarded  by  two  cells,  well  supplied  with  chloro- 
phyll. If  a  microscope  is  not  available  Fig.  286  will  serve  to 
show  what  the  underside  of  the  leaf  looks  like.  In  leaves  that 

stand  upright  like  grass  leaves  these 
breathing  pores  are  about  equally 
distributed  on  the  under  and  upper 
surfaces.  On  leaves  like  water-lily 
pads  that  have  the  under  surface 
submerged  in  water  they  are  on  the 
upper  side. 

Water  escapes  by  stomata. — To 
show  that  the  water  passing  out 
of  the  leaves  goes  through  the 
stomata,  smear  the  underside  of  a 
leaf  of  a  geranium,  nasturtium,  or 
other  convenient  plant  with  vase- 
line. Cover  the  upper  surface  of 
another  leaf  of  the  same  plant  with  vaseline.  The  former  leaf 
will  die  quite  promptly,  its  mouths  being  all  covered  up.  This 
is  due  in  part  to  checking  the  passage  of  the  moisture,  but  due 
more  to  the  cessation  of  respiration,  which  will  be  clearer  when 
we  have  studied  the  experiments  on  breathing  given  below. 

Plants  take  up  solids  dissolved  in  the  water. — Cut  off  one 
of  the  bean  plants  close  to  the  ground  and  put  it  quickly  into  a 
bottle  of  water  to  which  has  been  added  a  tablespoonful  of  red 
ink.  If  after  a  few  hours  you  look  at  the  leaves  and  stem  you 
will  see  that  they  are  tinged  with  red.  The  stem  is  evidently 
carrying  up  to  the  leaves  water  and  the  solids  dissolved  in  it. 


FIG.     286.  —  Breathing    pores 
(stomata)  in  epidermis  of  leaf. 


SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS  397 

If  you  now  cut  across  the  stem  of  the  plant  that  was  in  the  ink 
and  look  at  the  cut  end  it  will  be  evident  that  the  material  is 
being  carried  largely  by  the  fibrovascular  bundles. 

Conditions  of  growth. — To  show  that  plants  must  have 
certain  favorable  conditions  of  moisture  and  temperature  if  they 
are  to  grow  well,  try  the  following  experiments: 

Put  a  layer  of  sand  or  sawdust,  about  an  inch  deep,  in  the 
bottom  of  each  of  three  pint  fruit  jars.  Wet  the  sand  in  one  jar 
sopping  wet,  in  another  dampen  it  moderately,  and  in  the  third 
leave  it  nearly  dry.  Press  into  the  sand  in  each  jar  two  or  three 
seeds  of  beans,  of  oats,  and  of  corn  that  have  been  soaked 
overnight.  Put  the  covers  on  the  jars  and  let  them  stand  in  a 
warm  place  to  germinate.  It  will  be  quite  evident  that  seeds 
can  have  too  much  water  and  that  some  seeds  require  more 
moisture  to  germinate  than  do  others.  Can  growth  occur  when 
little  or  no  moisture  is  present?  Do  some  seeds  grow  better 
than  others  when  there  is  an  excess  of  moisture  ?  What  harm 
does  a  spell  of  wet  weather  do  just  after  planting  ?  Why  does 
the  farmer  have  to  drain  swamp  land  before  he  plants  it  ? 

Again,  prepare  three  jars  with  sand  in  the  bottom  of  each. 
Moisten  the  sand  sufficiently  to  make  the  seeds  grow  well. 
Plant  soaked  seeds  of  oats  and  squash  in  each.  Cover  the  jars 
and  place  one  where  it  is  very  warm,  as  over  a  furnace  or  near 
a  steam  radiator,  another  where  it  will  have  ordinary  room 
temperature,  about  65°,  and  the  third  where  it  will  be  quite  cold, 
as  in  a  refrigerator.  At  the  end  of  several  days  compare  the 
growth  in  the  several  jars.  What  do  the  results  prove  ?  Why 
can  oats  be  planted  earlier  than  squash  ? 

The  plant  breathes. — To  show  that  a  growing  plant  breathes, 
take  two  clean  pint  fruit  jars  and  put  in  each  a  layer  of  crumpled 
moist  filter  paper  or  blotting  paper.  Sprinkle  on  this  a  level 
teaspoonful  of  small  seeds,  like  those  of  phlox,  radish,  or  clover. 
Add  more  paper  and  more  seed,  layer  by  layer,  until  several 
spoonfuls  of  the  seed  have  been  used.  Screw  on  the  covers  and 
set  aside  until  the  seeds  have  germinated  well. 


398       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Put  a  lump  of  unslaked  lime  into  a  tumbler  of  water  and 
let  it  stand  several  hours,  stirring  occasionally.  Finally  let  all 
the  sediment  settle  and  pour  off  the  clear  fluid.  This  is  lime- 
water,  which  may  be  bought  of  the  druggist  ready-made  if  you 
prefer.  Pour  a  little  of  this  limewater  into  a  clear  tumbler  and 
blow  into  it  with  a  piece  of  tubing,  letting  the  tube  dip  below  the 
surface  of  the  limewater.  A  serviceable  tube  can  be  made  by 
wrapping  a  sheet  of  paper  about  a  long  pencil  and  then  slipping 
out  the  pencil.  The  lime  water  becomes  milky  because  of  the 
carbon-dioxide  gas  given  off  from  the  lungs,  and  this  is  a  test  for 
the  gas.  Remove  the  cover  from  one  of  the  pint  jars  just 
enough  to  pour  in  a  half-cup  of  clear  limewater.  Shake  it  up 
quickly  and  pour  it  off  into  a  glass.  Much  will  be  absorbed  by 
the  blotting  paper,  but  what  does  come  out  is  very  milky.  This 
shows  readily  that  a  growing  plant  gives  off  carbon  dioxide  in 
breathing,  as  we  do. 

Oxygen  of  air. — Help  the  child  to  realize  from  his  experience 
that  there  is  a  substance  in  the  air  (we  call  it  oxygen)  with- 
out which  things  ordinarily  do  not  burn.  When  we  want  more 
heat  in  the  stove  or  furnace  we  open  the  draft  so  that  the  air  can 
have  more  ready  access  to  the  wood  or  coal,  and  then  it  burns 
faster. 

Carbon  dioxide  formed  as  candle  burns. — Float  a  small  candle 
or  piece  of  crumpled  paper  on  a  cork  in  a  basin  of  water. 
Light  it  and  when  it  is  burning  well  turn  a  tumbler  or  pint  fruit 
jar  upside  down  over  it,  holding  the  mouth  of  the  jar  under 
water.  The  candle  or  paper  burns  a  while  and  then  goes  out 
because  it  has  used  up  all  the  oxygen.  You  will  see,  too,  that 
the  water  has  risen  in  the  tumbler  to  occupy  the  space  taken  up 
previously  by  the  oxygen.  This  is  about  one-fifth  of  the  volume 
of  the  tumbler,  which  makes  clear  that  about  one-fifth  of  the  air 
is  oxygen. 

Pull  the  cork  and  candle  out  from  under  the  tumbler  without 
taking  the  latter  out  of  the  water.  Put  a  square  of  stiff  paper 
over  the  mouth  of  the  tumbler  and  lift  it  out  of  the  water.  Let 


SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS  399 

what  water  is  inside  run  out  quickly.  Pour  in  some  clear  lime- 
water  and  shake  it  up  while  the  paper  cover  is  still  on.  The  lime- 
water  is  cloudy,  showing  the  presence  of  carbon  dioxide. 

There  is  carbon  in  the  candle  and  the  paper.  If  paper  was 
used,  some  of  it  is  left  as  partly  burned  or  charred  paper  (char- 
coal) .  When  the  carbon  and  oxygen  come  together  and  are  hot 
enough  they  combine  to  form  the  new  substance,  carbon  dioxide, 
and  they  produce  more  heat  as  they  unite.  Thus  heat  is 
produced  in  our  locomotives  by  burning  coal  or  oil  or  wood,  and 
this  heat  is  changed  to  other  sorts  of  energy,  like  steam  pressure, 
and  finally  to  mechanical  motion,  so  that  the  wheels  go  round 
and  the  engine  does  work,  such  as  pulling  our  cars. 

Oxidation  for  energy. — A  growing  plant  does  work.  The  little 
leaves  and  the  root  confined  in  the  seed  burst  the  seed  coats, 
grow  up  into  the  light,  or  force  a  way  down  into  the  soil.  As 
work  power  must  be  developed  in  order  to  do  this  some  of  the 
substances  in  the  seed  are  burned  up  to  furnish  this  energy,  just 
as  we  take  oxygen  into  our  lungs  and  blood  and  burn  up  inside 
in  order  to  develop  work  power.  The  burned-up  tissue  has  to 
be  replaced  by  the  food  that  we  eat,  digest,  and  assimilate  into 
living  substances. 

Plants  need  oxygen. — That  growing  plants  cannot  thrive  with- 
out oxygen  is  readily  shown  as  follows: 

Soak  a  pint  of  oats  for  twenty-four  hours.  In  the  bottom  of 
each  of  three  pint  fruit  jars  place  an  inch-deep  layer  of  moist  sand. 
Sprinkle  a  dozen  or  so  of  the  oats  on  the  sand  in  one  jar,  put  a 
handful  of  them  into  the  second  jar,  and  fill  the  third  jar  two- 
thirds  full  of  them.  Screw  on  the  covers  tightly  and  place  all 
three  jars  where  the  temperature  will  be  about  60°  F.  Watch 
the  seeds  daily  to  see  which  grow  best.  The  conditions  in  the 
jars  are  alike  except  that  the  amount  of  air  present  for  each  seed 
to  use  is  variable.  State  your  conclusion  after  watching  the 
results  of  the  experiment.  Plant  a  dozen  soaked  oats  in  a  pot 
of  clay  soil  and  pack  the  clay  down  well  over  them.  In  the 
same  way  plant  a  dozen  more  oats  in  a  pot  of  loose  leaf  mold. 


400       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Keep  both  at  the  same  temperature  and  keep  the  soils  moist. 
In  which  kind  of  soil  do  the  seeds  germinate  best  and  why  ? 

Photosynthesis. — To  show  that  a  plant  in  sunlight  manu- 
factures food  substances,  cut  two  thin  slices  from  a  cork  or  cut 
two  half -inch  squares  of  black  cardboard.  With  fine  wire  or 
pins  fasten  these,  opposite  each  other,  on  the  upper  and  under 
sides  of  a  vigorous  leaf  on  a  nasturtium  plant  or  other  convenient 
plant.  Then  put  the  plant  in  the  bright  sunlight  for  a  day  or  two. 
The  pieces  of  cork  or  cardboard  will  exclude  the  light  from  the 
part  of  the  leaf  between  them.  Pick  off  the  leaf,  remove  the 
cork  or  cardboard,  and  put  the  leaf  into  a  cup  or  tumbler. 
Cover  the  leaf  with  alcohol  and  cover  the  cup  with  something 
so  that  the  alcohol  will  not  evaporate.  The  alcohol  will  remove 
the  green  color  of  the  leaf  in  a  few  hours  or  in  a  shorter  time  if  the 
alcohol  is  warm.  When  the  leaf  is  white  or  nearly  so  wash  it  in 
water ;  then  cover  it  with  water  in  the  cup  and  add  thirty  drops 
of  iodine.  This  is  the  starch  test  already  used  to  show  starch  in 
seeds.  If  the  leaf  does  not  color  rapidly  add  more  iodine.  At 
the  end  of  an  hour  the  leaf  should  be  stained  blue  or  blue  black, 
except  the  area  covered  by  the  cardboard.  This  will  be 
imcolored  or  slightly  colored.  The  experiment  may  be  done  on 
the  leaf  of  some  plant  that  has  been  growing  out  of  doors  under 
a  board  or  stone.  Use  two  leaves  of  the  same  plant,  one  that 
has  been  covered  and  one  that  has  been  in  the  light.  Thus  we 
see  that  the  green  leaf  of  a  plant  makes  starch,  and  moreover  that 
this  can  only  be  done  in  the  sunlight. 

That  plants  manufacture  foods  is  commonplace  knowledge. 
We  get  starch,  sugar,  chocolate,  and  other  foods  from  plants; 
we  use  the  stored-up  foods  in  our  grains,  fruits,  and  vegetables. 
The  plant  can  make  its  food  substance  out  of  simple  things  that 
it  gets  from  the  air  and  soil.  These  substances  are  chiefly 
carbon  dioxide  absorbed  from  the  air,  water,  and  substances  in 
solution  taken  from  the  soil. 

Plant  uses  carbon  dioxide. — That  the  plant  uses  carbon 
dioxide  is  readily  shown.  The  pupil  must  remember  that  there 


SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS  401 

are  two  processes  going  on  in  the  leaf:  (i)  respiration,  when 
oxygen  is  absorbed  and  carbon  dioxide  is  given  off,  and  (2)  food 
manufacture.  The  two  must  not  be  confused. 

Fill  a  deep  jar  or  basin  full  of  water.  Take  a  large,  flat  cork 
that  will  slip  into  the  mouth  of  the  two-quart  jar  and  fasten  a 
string  to  one  flat  side.  Float  the  cork  with  this  side  down  in 
the  water.  Set  a  short  piece  of  candle  on  the  cork  and  light  it. 
Place  the  jar,  mouth  down,  over  the  candle  and  cork  and  lower 
it  until  its  mouth  is  under  water.  Let  the  candle  burn  as  long 
as  it  will.  What  gas  has  disappeared  from  the  jar  and  what  has 
taken  its  place  ?  Support  the  two-quart  jar  on  tumblers  or 
pieces  of  brick.  Pull  out  the  cork  and  candle.  Cut  a  hole  in 
the  center  of  the  cork,  slip  in  a  sprig  of  a  plant  like  geranium  or 
nasturtium,  with  a  fairly  long  stem,  and  replace  the  cork.  It 
will  now  hold  the  leafy  shoot  up  in  the  carbon-dioxide  gas,  while 
the  stem  will  be  under  water.  Set  the  basin — jar,  plant,  and  all 
— where  it  will  be  in  strong  sunlight  for  a  couple  of  days.  Then 
remove  the  plant.  Slip  a  piece  of  glass  under  the  mouth  of  the 
jar  and  lift  it  out  of  the  water.  Turn  it  right  side  up.  Pour  in 
some  limewater,  uncovering  the  jar  as  little  as  possible,  and 
shake  it  up.  The  limewater  does  not  turn  milky,  or  if  at  all, 
only  slightly  so.  The  growing  plant  then  has  used  up  the  carbon 
dioxide.  Light  a  splinter  of  wood  and  shove  it  down  into  the 
jar ;  it  burns,  showing  not  only  that  the  carbon  dioxide  has  gone 
but  that  oxygen  has  reappeared.  The  growing  plant  in  making 
food  gives  off  oxygen  too. 

Oxygen  eliminated. — Carbon  dioxide,  water,  and  the  nitroge- 
nous substances  which  are  absorbed  by  the  roots  are  united  in 
the  leaf.  Through  the  activity  of  the  living  parts  of  the  leaf, 
which  are  energized  by  the  sunlight,  they  are  combined  into  the 
substances  which  the  plant  needs  for  growth  and  work.  We 
have  seen  that  such  things  as  sugar  and  starch  are  formed,  but 
even  more  complex  substances  are  also  produced,  namely,  those 
nitrogenous  compounds  in  which  the  life-processes  go  on.  Not 
all  the  elements  in  the  simple  substances  named  above  are 
needed  by  the  plant.  There  is  an  excess  of  oxygen  which  is 


402 


SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


given  off  from  the  leaves  growing  in  sunlight.  That  this  occurs 
rapidly  when  the  plant  is  well  supplied  with  carbon  dioxide  and 
water  is  easily  shown. 

Fill  two  wide-mouthed  jars  two-thirds  full  of  water.  In  each 
put  a  spray  of  water  plant,  like  Cabomba,  Myriophyllum,  or 
Elodea  (p.  6).  One  may  even  use  a  clover  plant,  which  ordi- 
narily does  not  grow  under  water.  Cover  the  plant  spray  in 

each  jar  with  a  glass  funnel 
that  has  a  short  stem.  The 
stem  may  be  cut  off  by 
making  a  deep  scratch  with 
a  three-cornered  file  on  the 
glass  where  one  desires  to 
break  it.  Grasp  the  funnel 
stem  in  the  hands,  put  the 
thumb  nails  back  to  back, 
with  the  nails  opposite  the 
file  mark,  and  try  to  bend 
the  glass,  when  it  will  readily 
snap  off  at  the  desired  point 
(Fig.  287). 

Take  a  test  tube  and  after 
filling  it  with  water  hold  the 
thumb  over  the  mouth  of  it 
and  invert  it  in  the  water. 
Take  the  thumb  away  and, 
with  its  mouth  still  under 
water,  place  the  tube  over  the  end  of  the  funnel  stem,  which 
must  also  be  under  water.  Let  it  stand  full  of  water.  Do  the 
same  with  another  test  tube  in  the  other  jar.  Set  both  jars  in 
the  window  where  they  will  get  good  light. 

Carbon  dioxide  a  plant  food. — So  far  both  jars  are  alike. 
Make  a  carbon-dioxide  generator  according  to  the  following 
directions:  Fit  a  cork  in  the  mouth  of  a  test  tube.  With  a 
rat-tail  file  punch  and  file  out  of  the  center  of  the  cork  a  hole  big 


FIG.  287. — Method  of  breaking  glass 
tubing:  upper,  making  the  scratch;  lower, 
pressure  opposite  the  scratch. 


SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS  403 

enough  to  receive  tightly  a  small  glass  tube.  Cut  off  a  foot  of 
the  glass  tubing  in  the  same  way  as  the  stem  of  the  funnel  was 
cut.  Hold  this  in  the  flame  of  an  alcohol  lamp  or  Bunsen  burner 
(gas)  so  that  a  spot  about  four  inches  from  one  end  will  be  heated. 
Just  above  the  tip  of  the  blue  central  part  of  the  flame  is  the 


FIG.  288. — Method  of  bending  glass  tubing.     Turn  the  tubing  in  the  flame 
until  it  is  red-hot,  then  (lower  figure)  bend  it  slowly. 

hottest  place,  and  as  glass  does  not  carry  heat  easily  this  may  be 
done  while  the  tube  is  held  in  the  bare  fingers.  As  the  glass  heats 
it  softens.  When  soft  enough  bend  it  slowly,  so  as  to  make  a 
delivery  tube  like  that  shown  in  Fig.  288.  Take  the  tubing  out 
of  the  flame  gradually  so  that  it  will  cool  slowly.  Put  the  shorter 
end  of  this  tube  through  the  cork.  In  the  test  tube  place  three 


404       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

or  four  bits  of  marble  (calcium  carbonate)  as  big  as  peas.  Fill 
the  tube  one-fourth  full  of  water.  Add  a  little  (fifteen  or  twenty 
drops)  of  chlorhydric  acid.  Handle  the  acid  -carefully.  It 
bums  clothing  or  the  fingers.  If  you  get  it  on  the  fingers  wash 
it  off  at  once.  The  acid  causes  the  marble  to  break  up  and  give 
off  carbon  dioxide.  Insert  the  cork  with  delivery  tube  into  the 
mouth  of  the  test  tube  and  hang  the  delivery  tube  over  the  side 
of  one  wide-mouthed  jar  so  that  its  end  will  be  under  water. 
The  carbon  dioxide  will  run  into  the  water,  where  it  is  absorbed. 
This  should  be  repeated  daily. 

The  green  plants  in  the  sunlight  will  give  off  bubbles  of  gas 
(oxygen)  as  growth  occurs.  This  gas  is  caught  by  the  funnels 
and  carried  to  the  test  tubes,  where  it  accumulates,  displacing  the 
water.  It  will  collect  much  more  rapidly  in  the  jar  supplied 
with  carbon  dioxide.  (Soda  water  and  pop  are  charged  with 
carbon  dioxide.  You  may  pour  a  glass  of  white  pop  into  one 
jar  every  day,  dipping  out  some  of  the  water  in  the  jar  to  make 
room  for  it,  if  that  is  an  easier  task  than  generating  carbon 
dioxide.)  When  a  half  test  tube  full  of  the  oxygen  has  accumu- 
lated, test  it  by  removing  the  test  tube  and  thrusting  into  the 
gas  a  glowing  splinter  of  wood.  It  will  burst  into  flame. 

Plant  wastes. — Certain  waste  substances  are  excreted  by 
plants  during  growth,  as  we  have  already  seen.  Oxygen  is  a 
waste  product  in  the  production  of  plant  food.  Carbon  dioxide 
is  a  waste  product  in  respiration  in  plants  as  in  animals.  Since 
plants  never  move  very  rapidly  and  are  sluggish  even  in  their 
internal  activities  they  do  not  have  to  breathe  very  hard.  All 
the  plants  one  can  grow  in  a  bow  window  do  not  give  off  as  much 
carbon  dioxide  at  night,  when  respiration  is  going  on  and  food 
manufacture  is  not,  as  a  single  burning  candle  would  give  off. 
It  is  the  active  animal,  especially  the  warm-blooded  one,  that 
breathes  fast;  but  the  plant  does  manufacture  food  rapidly  in 
the  sunlight.  Plants  therefore  ordinarily  give  off  much  oxygen 
which  animals  breathe,  and  use  as  food  material  much  carbon 
dioxide  which  animals  in  breathing  give  off  as  waste. 


SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS  405 

Roots  give  off  acid. — Acid  is  also  excreted  from  the  roots  of 
plants.  This  may  be  shown  as  follows:  Put  the  roots  of  a 
growing  plant,  like  a  seedling  pea  or  sunflower,  into  water  colored 
with  blue  litmus.  Litmus  is  a  substance  which  changes  color 
on  contact  with  acid,  the  blue  color  becoming  red.  Any  alkaline 
substance,  like  ammonia  or  limewater,  will  change  it  back  to 
blue.  Take  a  little  of  the  blue-litmus  solution  or  a  piece  of  blue- 
litmus  paper  and  add  a  drop  of  acid  to  it ;  it  turns  red.  Add  lime- 
water  to  the  red  solution  until  it  turns  blue  again.  Let  the  plant 
grow  in  the  blue-litmus  solution  or  in  water  containing  a  strip 
of  blue-litmus  paper  obtained  from  a  druggist.  The  color  will 
shortly  change,  showing  that  the  roots  are  giving  off  acid. 

Plants  growing  continuously  in  one  location  tend  to  poison 
the  soil  as  well  as  to  exhaust  from  it  the  particular  mineral  sub- 
stances they  need  as  foods.  So  crops  must  be  rotated  to  avoid 
growing  the  same  crop  year  after  year  on  the  same  land,  or  else 
special  pains  must  be  taken  to  eliminate  poisonous  matter  and 
to  supply  the  exhausted  food  materials. 

Acid  soils. — Sometimes  a  soil  becomes  so  acid  that  it  will 
grow  only  certain  weeds  that  can  thrive  under  such  adverse 
conditions.  Sheep  sorrel  is  one  of  these.  Many  mosses,  like 
the  hairy  caps,  can  endure  an  acid  soil.  You  may  test  a  soil 
for  its  acidity  in  this  way :  mix  water  with  a  half -tumbler  of  soil 
and  stir  it  to  the  consistency  of  thick  cake  batter;  then  put  a 
strip  of  blue-litmus  paper  in  this  and  let  it  stand  an  hour.  Take 
the  litmus  out  and  rinse  it,  and  if  it  is  pink  or  red  the  soil  is 
acid.  Such  acid  soils  are  treated  with  lime ;  with  water  this  lime 
makes  limewater,  which,  we  have  seen,  is  alkaline  and  counter- 
acts the  acid.  On  heavy  clays  two  or  three  tons  per  acre  may 
be  needed;  sandy  soils  require  much  less,  usually  not  over  five 
hundred  pounds,  which  is  at  the  rate  of  about  three  pounds  to 
the  square  rod. 

The  SoiL — Soils  differ  from  each  other  in  the  nature  of 
the  ingredients  they  contain  and  in  their  texture.  Thus  sand 
and  gravel  are  pretty  much  alike  except  that  the  particles  of 


406       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

the  latter  are  much  coarser  than  those  of  the  former.  But 
sand,  clay,  and  humus  differ  from  each  other  in  that  the  first 
consists  of  particles  of  quartz,  the  second  of  disintegrated  feldspar 
(and  some  other  substances),  and  the  third  of  more  or  less  pure 
plant  debris,  like  decaying  leaves.  Rub  a  bit  of  moist  soil 
between  the  fingers.  If  it  contains  much  clay  it  feels  greasy 
and,  like  putty,  can  be  molded  into  various  shapes. 

Weigh  out  a  sample  of  garden  soil.  Put  it  in  an  iron  pan 
whose  weight  you  have  also  determined.  Bake  it  gently  in  an 
oven  until  it  is  dry  and  weigh  it  again  when  cool.  The  loss  of 
weight  represents  the  moisture  it  contained.  Bake  it  hard  or 
heat  it  while  covered  with  an  iron  cover  over  a  hot  flame  or  on 
a  hot  stove  until  the  organic  matter  (humus)  is  burned  out. 
Weigh  again  when  cool  to  find  out  how  much  humus  it  contained. 
Mix  what  is  left  with  water  and  stir  it  well.  (There  should 
be  several  times  the  volume  of  water  that  there  is  of  soil.)  After 
stirring  let  it  settle  a  moment  and  then  pour  off  the  water.  The 
fine  clay  and  silt  will  pour  off,  the  coarser  sand  will  be  left.  Dry 
the  sand  and  weigh  it.  Thus  a  soil  may  be  analyzed  roughly  to 
find  out  what  it  contains. 

Water  in  soil. — Secure  a  generous  sample  of  coarse  sand,  of 
fine  sand,  of  clay,  and  of  humus.  The  latter  may  be  scraped  up 
in  the  woods,  where  it  is  the  very  dark  surface  soil.  The  clay 
may  need  pounding  to  pulverize  it.  Tie  a  cloth  over  one  end  of 
each  of  four  student-lamp  chimneys  or  wide  glass  tubes  two  feet 
long,  and  fill  one  such  with  clay,  another  with  coarse  sand,  a 
third  with  fine  sand,  and  a  fourth  with  humus.  Stand  all, 
cloth  ends  down,  in  a  shallow  pan  and  tie  them  up  to  some 
support  so  that  they  will  not  fall  over.  Pour  water  into  the 
pan.  Watch  to  see  in  which  soil  the  water  rises  fastest.  After 
the  tubes  or  chimneys  have  stood  for  twenty-four  hours  note 
in  which  soil  the  water  has  risen  highest. 

Water  rises  in  the  soil  by  a  force  called  capillary  attraction. 
Take  a  bit  of  glass  tubing  six  inches  long.  Heat  the  middle  of  it 
in  the  gas  flame  or  in  the  flame  of  the  alcohol  lamp  just  as  if  you 


SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS  407 

were  going  to  bend  it.  Turn  it  slowly  so  that  it  will  heat  on  all 
sides.  When  quite  soft  remove  it  from  the  flame  and  instantly 
pull  on  opposite  ends.  It  will  be  drawn  out  into  a  fine  tube. 
The  tube  of  a  broken  thermometer  will  do  instead  of  this.  Dip 
the  end  of  this  fine  tube  in  red  ink.  The  ink  rises  to  a  consider- 
able height.  Dip  the  end  of  a  coarse  tube  in  the  ink  and  the 
ink  rises  only  a  little  way.  Such  fine  passageways  occur  between 
the  soil  particles  and  through  them  the  water  rises.  The  soil 
brings  the  water  up  to  the  plant  from  the  deep  water  supplies 
much  as  a  wick  brings  the  oil  up  to  the  flame  in  a  lamp. 

Retention  of  water  in  soil. — Fill  a  medicine  dropper  with 
water.  Hold  a  clean  dry  pebble  between  the  thumb  and  ringer 
of  your  left  hand  and  let  a  drop  of  water  fall  on  it.  Watch  the 
water  spread  a  little  way  over  the  surface.  Drop  another  drop 
on  the  same  place  and  watch  it  spread  a  little  farther  over  the 
surface.  Continue  this  until  the  whole  surface  of  the  pebble  is 
moist.  Thus  we  have  formed  a  film  of  moisture  on  the  surface 
of  the  pebble.  Keep  adding  more  water  and  soon  the  pebble 
has  all  it  can  hold  and  drops  of  water  begin  to  fall  off  its  lower 
side.  Examine  some  coarse  soil  and  see  that  it  is  made  up,  in 
large  part,  of  bits  of  stone.  Fine  soil  can  be  examined  under  a 
lens  and  it  will  be  seen  to  be  composed  largely  of  bits  of  stone 
that  are  very  small.  When  the  raindrops  fall  on  these  tiny 
pebbles  each  small  stone  is  covered  with  a  film  of  moisture. 
When  it- has  as  much  as  it  can  hold  the  water  drops  from  it  to  a 
lower  bit  of  stone  and  thus  the  rain  penetrates  the  soil,  passing 
from  one  tiny  particle  to  another  below  it,  but  leaving  on  each  a 
film  of  moisture.  The  rain  sinks  deeper  and  deeper  into  the 
soil  until  it  comes  to  a  layer  of  rock  or  of  hard  soil  that  it  cannot 
penetrate.  Here  it  accumulates  and  remains.  Our  wells  tap 
these  water  reservoirs  and  from  them  we  draw  our  constant 
supply. 

Secure  three  tin  cans  of  equal  size  and  of  about  a  quart 
capacity.  Punch  several  holes  in  the  bottom  of  each,  or  use  the 
lamp  chimneys  of  the  previous  experiment.  Fill  one  can  full 


408       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

with  sandy  soil,  another  with  clay,  and  a  third  with  leaf  mold,  all 
well  pulverized.  Let  all  the  cans  stand  several  days  in  a  warm 
place  until  the  soil  is  dry.  Fill  a  pint  measuring  cup  with  water 
and  slowly  pour  water  on  the  surface  of  the  sandy  soil  in  the  first 
can.  Catch  what  runs  through  in  a  dish  and  measure  it  to  see 
how  much  of  the  pint  of  water  the  sandy  soil  retained.  Do  the 
same  with  each  of  the  other  cans.  What  sort  of  soil  holds 
most  moisture  ? 

Firming. — Plant  oats  in  each  can,  pressing  the  oats  into  the 
soil  without  packing  the  earth  about  them  at  all,  except  on  one 
side  of  the  can  filled  with  fine  leaf  mold.  Press  the  earth  firmly 
about  the  seed  on  one  side  of  this  can  and  leave  it  light  and  open 
on  the  other  side.  Let  all  the  cans  stand  uncovered  where  they 
will  be  warm.  Do  not  water  them  at  all.  In  which  can  do  the 
oats  grow  best  ?  Why  ?  What  is  the  effect  of  firming  the  soil 
about  seeds  when  they  are  planted  ? 

Cultivation. — Aside  from  pulling  the  weeds  out  of  the  soil  so 
that  they  will  not  take  up  the  plant  food  which  we  want  the  crop 
to  have,  cultivation  breaks  up  the  surface  soil,  pulverizes  it,  and 
so  destroys  the  continuity  of  capillary  tubes  between  soil  particles 
that  evaporation  is  checked.  This  is  very  essential  in  times  of 
drought  and  is  the  secret  of  dry  farming.  To  illustrate  the  point 
take  three  flowerpots  of  good  size  (five  or  six  inches).  Fill  all 
three  with  the  same  sort  of  soil,  well  firmed,  to  within  an  inch 
of  the  top.  Moisten  the  soil  in  each  with  a  measured  quantity 
of  water,  say  a  half -pint.  Sprinkle  a  half -inch  of  dry  sand  on 
top  of  one,  a  half-inch  of  soil  like  that  in  the  pots  on  the  second, 
and  add  nothing  to  the  third.  Weigh  each  pot  and  its  contained 
soil.  Let  all  three  stand  side  by  side  and  weigh  each  again  after 
a  day,  after  two  days.  Which  loses  the  most  moisture  and  why  ? 
Why  is  the  garden  raked  after  spading  it  ? 


SEEDS  AND  SEEDLINGS  409 

BIBLIOGRAPHY1 

Atkinson,  George  F.    First  Studies  of  Plant  Life.    Boston:    Ginn  &  Co. 

$0.72. 
Bergen  and   Caldwell.    Introduction  to  Botany.    Boston:    Ginn   &   Co. 

$1.36. 
Coulter  John  M.    Elementary  Studies  in  Botany.    New  York:  D.Appleton 

&  Co.    $1.40. 

Dana  W.  S.    Plants  and  Their  Children.    New  York:  American  Book  Co- 
Farmers'  Bulletins: 

No.  in,  The  Farmer's  Interest  in  Good  Seed. 

No.  428,  Testing  Farm  Seed  in  the  Home.    In  the  Rurual  School. 
Warren,  G.  F.    Elements  of  Agriculture.    The  Macmillan  Co.    $1.20. 

1  Farmers'  bulletins  are  issued  by  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
Washington,  D.C. 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  GARDEN 

Garden  values. — The  garden  is  an  excellent  place  for  the 
growing  child  to  acquire  a  number  of  very  valuable  experiences; 
he  may  dig  in  the  dirt,  plant  his  seeds,  watch  that  mysterious 
unfolding  of  the  new  plant,  nurture  it,  tend  it,  supply  its  wants, 
protect  it.  He  may  become  skilful  in  the  very  useful  art  of 
gardening  and  thereby  increase  both  his  creature  comforts  and 
his  heart's  delight.  In  his  garden  he  must  cultivate  some  homely 
virtues:  patience,  persistence,  prudence.  He  must  match  his 
wits  against  the  idiosyncrasies  of  the  weather  and  against  the 
ravages  of  hordes  of  voracious  insects  and  blighting  fungi.  He 
must  learn  to  respect  laws  that  are  more  immutable  than  those 
of  the  Medes  and  Persians. 

Phases  of  garden  experiences. — For  the  little  child  the 
garden  is  a  means  of  contact  with  a  new  world.  He  will  be 
content  to  learn  to  recognize  the  new  plants,  both  flowers  and 
vegetables,  and  to  acquire  a  measure  of  control  over  them. 
Usually  he  may  not  be  given  the  responsibility  of  a  plot  of  his 
own,  for  the  task  soon  palls  upon  him,  but  he  will  work  willingly 
under  direction  at  the  varied  tasks  that  may  be  assigned  in  the 
common  garden  of  kindergarten  or  first  and  second  grades. 
Soon,  however,  he  wants  his  very  own  garden,  either  at  home  or 
at  school,  where  he  may  do  as  he  pleases.  And  he  usually 
pleases  to  plant  a  dozen  or  more  vegetables  and  flowers  in  a 
plot  three  by  six  that  is  speedily  overrun  with  weeds,  unless 
the  teacher  has  good  tact  and  can  maintain  interest  against 
strenuous  odds.  Next  he  wants  a  sizable  patch  in  which  to 
raise  things  he  can  sell;  this  is  primarily  the  opportunity 
of  the  home  garden.  Finally  his  garden  must  assume  the  role 
of  a  demonstration  plot,  a  specialist's  garden,  or  an  adjunct  to  a 

410 


THE  GARDEN 


411 


chicken  project,  in  order  to  keep  him  at  it  year  after  year  with 
unabated  interest. 

Types  of  gardens. — The  school  garden  may  be:  (i)  a  source 
of  supply  for  nature-study  material;  (2)  a  project,  or  series  of 
projects,  useful  primarily  for  educating  the  pupil,  incidentally 
for  growing  vegetables  or  flowers;  (3)  a  commercial  venture  as  a 
means  of  the  personal  development  of  the  child  (Fig.  289); 
(4)  an  agency  in  beautifying  the  home  and  the  school  grounds; 


FIG.  289. — The  school  garden 

and  any  or  all  of  these  purposes  may  be  embodied  in  the  one 
garden.  The  school  garden  is  any  garden  used  for  educative 
purposes  by  the  teacher.  It  may  be  on  the  school  grounds,  in 
the  back  yard  of  the  pupil,  or  on  a  vacant  lot.  It  is  not  its 
location  but  its  aim  that  makes  it  a  school  garden. 

Laying  out  and  planting  plots. — The  plots  of  ground  for 
kindergartners  and  for  pupils  of  the  lower  grades,  perhaps  Grades 
I  and  II,  may  be  laid  out  as  class  exercises,  and  the  soil  prepara- 
tion (after  the  spading  and  rough  raking,  which  must  be  done  by 
hired  help)  and  the  seeding  will  be  done  under  direction  of  the 


412       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

teacher  (Fig.  290).  The  instruction  should  be  confined  to  the 
essentials  and  should  be  imparted  by  example  rather  than  by 
precept.  Show  the  children  how  to  rake  so  as  to  break  up  the 
coarse  chunks  and  how  to  pulverize  the  soil  to  a  considerable 
depth.  The  rake  is  moved  back  and  forth  with  teeth  down  over 
a  limited  area  until  that  is  finely  pulverized,  and  then  an  adjacent 
small  area  is  similarly  raked.  Insist  that  this  be  done  very 


FIG.  290. — Planting  the  garden 

effectually  all  over  the  plot.  See  to  it  that  the  drills — shallow 
grooves  made  in  the  soil  for  the  reception  of  the  seed — are  made 
straight.  Stretch  a  string  between  stakes  set  at  the  ends  of  the 
prospective  row  and  see  that  this  string  parallels  the  nearby  path 
or  else  is  at  right  angles  to  it,  so  that  the  garden  will  have  the 
appearance  of  being  well  laid  out.  The  necessary  measurements 
with  yardstick  or  tape  will  afford  good  practice  in  practical 
mensuration.  The  drill  may  be  made  with  a  strip  of  inch  board 
with  beveled  edge,  or  with  the  back  of  the  rake,  and  should  be 


THE  GARDEN  413 

varied  in  depth  according  to  the  size  of  the  seeds  to  be  planted. 
The  general  rule  in  planting  is  that  a  seed  goes  below  the  surface 
a  distance  equal  to  its  greatest  diameter.  The  space  between 
rows  should  be  ample.  For  such  vegetables  as  the  radish  this 
space  need  not  be  over  a  foot;  for  others,  like  carrots,  eighteen 
inches  to  two  feet;  for  some,  like  corn,  it  must  be  four  or  five 
feet  (see  planting  table  in  such  books  as  Barnes's  Suburban 
Garden  Guide).  It  must  be  generous  enough  to  make  the  weed- 
ing easy,  as  crowded  rows  always  make  hoeing  difficult  or  almost 
impossible  and  result  in  an  unsightly  and  unproductive  garden. 

Paths. — The  paths  between  rows  or  between  beds  should  be 
made  on  the  same  level  as  the  beds  themselves,  and  should  not 
be  sunk  below  that  level  unless  it  is  desirable  that  they  act  as 
drains  to  carry  off  excessive  moisture.  If  the  beds  are  raised 
above  the  level  of  the  paths,  they  tend  to  dry  out,  as  the  water 
drains  into  the  paths,  and  that  is  usually  not  favorable,  for 
growing  crops  need  abundant  moisture. 

Position  of  seed. — The  seeds  should  be  placed  in  the  drills 
at  definite  distances  from  each  other.  This  is  easily  possible 
with  large  seeds  like  peas  and  beans,  which  should  be  spaced 
four  to  six  inches  apart,  but  it  is  evidently  impossible  without 
unnecessary  care  if  the  seeds  are  small  like  those  of  lettuce;  such 
seed  is  sprinkled  thinly  in  the  drill,  and  later  the  plants  are 
thinned  out.  Soaking  the  larger  seeds  in  water  for  twenty-four 
hours  facilitates  germination.  Seeds  like  nuts  with  hard  outer 
coats  germinate  more  promptly  if  they  are  carefully  cracked  (not 
smashed)  before  planting.  Even  the  position  of  the  seed  in  the 
soil  makes  a  difference  in  the  speed  with  which  the  little  plant 
appears  above  the  ground.  Thus  if  the  "eye"  of  a  bean  is 
turned  down,  it  will  usually  come  up  more  quickly  than  when  set 
in  any  other  position.  This  might  be  demonstrated  by  experi- 
ment, planting  beans  in  several  different  positions  and  then 
watching  the  row  to  see  which  will  appear  first.  In  a  similar  way 
try  corn  kernels  planted  in  several  positions.  It  is  best  to  put 
in  several  kernels  or  beans  in  each  of  the  several  positions,  else 


414       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

the  results  may  be  due  to  inherent  differences  in  the  seeds  rather 
than  to  difference  of  position  in  planting. 

Firm  the  earth. — After  the  seeds  are  scattered  in  the  drills 
cover  them  and  make  the  soil  firm  over  them  by  pressing  it  down 
over  the  seeds  with  a  narrow  board  or  with  the  fingers.  This  is 
another  trick  that  facilitates  growth,  as  it  enables  the  seed  to 
draw  necessary  moisture  readily  from  the  soil  closely  pressed 
against  it,  and  the  growing  roots  become  more  securely  estab- 
lished in  firm  soil.  It  is  not,  however,  a  commendable  practice 
in  clay  soils  that  tend  to  bake  under  a  hot  sun. 

Lower-grade  work. — Have  each  grade  plant  a  different  set  of 
flowers  and  vegetables,  so  that  each  child  will  have  opportunity 
to  become  familiar  with  a  number  of  different  varieties.  The 
average  flower  garden  or  vegetable  garden,  in  most  communities, 
has  too  few  things  in  it.  There  are  very  many  easily  grown 
flowers  and  vegetables  that  make  possible  a  succession  of  bloom 
and  a  variety  of  diet  that  will  add  to  the  attractiveness  and 
health  of  the  community.  The  intelligent  teacher,  through  the 
work  of  the  school  garden,  may  help  to  introduce  desirable  plants 
into  the  community  and  may  teach  the  proper  succession  of 
vegetables  and  the  artistic  grouping  of  flowers.  The  following 
plants  may  be  commended  for  the  different  grades : 

KlNDERGARTNERS 
Flowers  Vegetables 

Calendula  Radishes 

Candytuft  Lettuce 

Castor  bean  Wax  beans 

Gourds 

Nasturtium 

Sweet  alyssum 

GRADE  I 

Flowers  Vegetables 

Centaurea  Chard 

Hop  Beets 

Mignonette  Pumpkins 
Stocks 


THE  GARDEN  415 

GRADE  II 

Flowers  Vegetables 

Ageratum  Carrots 

Balsam  Dwarf  peas 

Cosmos  Potatoes 

Morning-glory  Pop  corn 
Petunia 
Verbena 

Bulb  planting. — In  addition  to  handling  seeds,  children  even 
of  these  lower  grades  may  well  learn  to  plant  bulbs  and  to  grow 
plants  from  cuttings.  Kindergartners  may  help  to  plant  some 
of  the  bulbs  on  the  school  grounds  in  the  fall,  an  effort  that  will 
yield  beds  of  attractive  bloom  in  the  spring.  The  bed  is  best 
located  in  a  spot  that  is  protected  from  north  and  west  winds 
by  walls  of  the  building  or  by  screens  of  shrubbery.  The  soil 
should  be  well  worked,  spaded,  and  raked  fine.  When  the  bulbs 
are  set  out,  the  large  ones  should  be  planted  fairly  deep,  the 
smaller  ones  nearer  the  surface,  the  top  about  an  inch  below 
the  surface.  The  hole  for  the  bulb  is  made  with  a  trowel  or 
with  the  fingers,  and  the  earth  should  be  pressed  firmly  around  it. 
The  best  bulbs  for  kindergartners  to  try  are  paper-white  and 
poet's  narcissus,  Von  Sion  yellow  daffodils,  and  mixed  crocuses. 
First  and  second  grades  may  try  tulips  and  hyacinths.  Of  the 
former,  the  scarlet  Due  Van  Thol  and  the  red  and  yellow  Keizer- 
kroon  are  good  varieties.  The  white  and  pink  hyacinths  are 
surer  of  blooming  freely  than  the  others. 

Bulbs  in  water. — Some  of  the  bulbs  may  be  planted  in  pots 
for  indoor  blooming.  The  paper-white  narcissus  and  the 
daffodils  may  also  easily  be  grown  in  water  (Fig.  291).  An 
ordinary  bowl  may  be  used  for  the  latter  purpose,  but  one  may 
also  obtain  glass  bulb  dishes  from  any  florist.  Fill  the  bowl  or 
dish  two-thirds  full  of  gravel  or  crushed  stone.  Pea  coal  answers 
the  purpose  very  well  and  does  not  look  unsightly  if  some  sand 
is  sprinkled  over  the  surface.  Set  the  bulb,  or  even  two  or  three 
bulbs,  in  one  dish,  placing  the  broad  end  down  on  top  of  the 


416       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

gravel,  and  then  keep  the  dish  filled  with  water  up  to  the  level 
of  the  bottom  of  the  bulb.  The  narcissus  may  be  left  in  the  room 
from  the  start,  but  daffodils  should  be  put  away  in  a  closet,  or 
preferably  in  the  dark  cellar,  until  the  roots  have  well  developed. 
The  roots  anchor  the  bulb  by  growing  among  the  gravel  or  bits 
of  stone,  and  by  the  time  the  leaves  and  blossom  stalks  have 
developed  they  hold  the  plant  securely  in  an  upright  position. 


FIG.  291. — Bulbs  indoors 

Tulips  and  hyacinths  are  best  put  into  earth,  although  both  of 
them  will  grow  in  water  if  treated  like  the  daffodils. 

Bulbs  in  earth. — Fill  a  three-inch  paper  pot  half  full  of  ordi- 
nary garden  earth,  press  it  down,  and  place  the  bulb  in  the  pot, 
broad  end  down.  Fill  in  enough  more  earth  to  cover  the  bulb 
so  that  nothing  but  its  very  tip  protrudes.  With  lead  pencil 
plainly  mark  each  pot  to  indicate  what  it  contains.  Put  the 
pots  in  the  dark  cellar  or  in  a  closet  and  keep  them  quite  cool 
while  the  root  system  is  growing.  Water  them  regularly  twice 
a  week,  so  as  to  keep  the  earth  moist  but  not  wet.  The  bulbs 
will  develop  leaves,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  leaves  the  flower 


THE  GARDEN  417 

stalk.  This  growth  should  be  allowed  to  continue  while  the 
plants  are  in  the  dark  until  the  leaves  are  three  or  four  inches 
high.  They  may  then  be  brought  out  into  a  light  place,  but  not 
into  a  very  warm  one. 

Premature  blossoming. — If  the  blossom  buds  begin  to  swell 
rapidly  and  look  as  if  they  were  going  to  open  before  the  cluster 
of  buds  is  out  of  the  leaves,  roll  some  dark  paper  into  narrow 
cylinders  six  inches  long  and  cover  each  plant  with  one.  The 
light,  coming  down  to  the  plant  through  the  open  cylinder,  will 
make  both  leaves  and  blossom  stalk  grow  tall  rapidly.  If  bulbs 
are  potted  in  September  they  may  be  allowed  to  develop  in  the 
cool  cellar  until  early  in  December,  and  then  the  blossoms  will 
open  in  a  week  or  two  after  bringing  them  upstairs  into  the 
warmth  of  the  rooms.  If  Easter  blooms  are  wanted  plant 
correspondingly  later. 

Trenching. — While  this  procedure  is  best  for  schoolroom  or 
home  culture  when  carried  on  by  little  children,  the  process  may 
profitably  be  varied  with  older  pupils.  Plant,  as  described  above, 
in  four-inch  earthen  pots.  Stop  the  hole  in  the  pot  with  a  bit 
of  stone  before  the  earth  is  put  into  it.  Water  the  pots  thor- 
oughly and  then  bury  them  in  the  garden  in  a  trench  that  has 
been  dug  a  foot  deep  and  as  long  as  is  necessary  for  all  of  the  pots 
containing  bulbs.  Set  the  pots  on  the  bottom  of  the  trench  and 
fill  the  trench  full  of  earth.  Set  stakes  at  the  corners  of  the 
trench  so  that  it  can  readily  be  located.  The  bulbs  in  the  pots 
are  to  be  left  here  for  six  or  eight  weeks,  or  longer,  while  the  roots 
develop  sufficiently  to  support  the  leaves  and  blossoms,  when 
the  pots  are  dug  up.  If  the  bulbs  are  put  in  trenches  in  Sep- 
tember they  may  be  dug  out  by  late  November  for  Christmas 
bloom  or  may  be  left  until  later  for  Easter.  Set  them  in  the 
cellar  or  some  other  dark,  cool  place  for  a  few  days,  then  bring 
them  out  into  the  light.  Leaves  should  grow  very  rapidly  and 
blossoms  should  also  come  out  promptly. 

Cuttings. — Potatoes  were  suggested  as  one  of  the  vegetables 
to  be  planted  by  the  second  grade.  Let  the  children  cut  the 


418       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

potatoes  so  as  to  make  their  own  "seed."  The  potato  can  be 
cut  into  as  many  pieces  as  it  has  eyes,  or  into  larger  pieces  with 
two  eyes  for  each  piece.  If  the  potatoes  of  your  region  are  at  all 
likely  to  be  infested  with  scab,  or  if  the  seed  potatoes  have  any 
indication  of  scab  upon  them,  it  is  well  to  sterilize  them  before 
cutting.  To  do  this,  wash  the  potato  clean  and  then  immerse  it 
for  a  few  minutes  in  5  per  cent  formaldehyde,  which  is  made  by 
diluting  commercial  formalin  with  six  or  seven  times  its  own 
volume  of  water.  The  solution  will  make  any  cuts  or  scratches 
on  the  hands  sting,  but  will  do  no  harm.  Holes  to  receive  the 
seed  are  made  in  the  well  spaded  and  raked  ground  and  should 
be  six  inches  deep,  two  feet  apart  in  the  rows,  and  the  rows 
should  be  three  feet  apart.  Put  a  piece  of  the  "seed"  in  each 
hole  and  cover  it  with  earth.  Do  not  hill  potatoes.  You 
might  hill  one  row  and  when  the  crop  is  dug  compare  the  yield 
from  this  row  with  that  from  the  others.  You  will  know  then 
that  it  is  not  wise  to  hill  them  (see  potato  beetle,  p.  119). 

Children  in  the  grades  may  well  learn  to  make  cuttings  of 
the  plants  growing  in  the  school  garden  in  order  to  carry  them 
through  the  winter  indoors.  Fill  some  good-sized  earthenware 
pans,  or  some  ordinary  wooden  boxes  that  are  six  or  seven 
inches  deep,  with  sand  up  to  within  an  inch  of  the  top.  From 
geranium  plants  break  off  stems  that  are  four  or  five  inches  long, 
or  break  the  main  stalk  of  a  geranium  plant  into  bits  that  are 
three  or  four  inches  long.  Break  off  all  the  leaves  except  one 
large  one  or  two  smaller  ones  at  the  upper  end  of  such  a  piece. 
Stick  such  pieces  down  into  the  ground,  leaving  just  the  upper 
part  of  the  stem,  with  its  leaf  or  leaves,  out  of  the  ground.  Keep 
them  in  a  moderately  cool  place  and  water  them  sparingly.  If 
the  ground  is  kept  too  wet  or  if  the  plants  are  kept  too  warm  the 
stem  is  likely  to  rot  before  the  roots  start.  Such  slips  or  cuttings 
may  be  put  into  a  tumbler  of  water  and  the  roots  will  start  in  it. 

Potting  the  rooted  slips. — Many  other  plants,  such  as  bego- 
nias, varieties  of  cactus,  fuchsias,  and  others,  may  be  started 
in  the  same  way.  It  usually  takes  from  four  to  six  weeks  for 


THE  GARDEN  419 

the  roots  to  develop,  and  then  the  plants  may  be  transferred 
from  the  sand  pan  or  box  to  small  pots  of  good  garden  soil. 
After  two  or  three  leaves  have  developed  they  may  be  repotted 
in  larger  pots.  In  this  way  two  or  three  geraniums,  brought  from 
the  pupils7  homes  or  purchased  in  the  greenhouse,  may,  during 
the  winter,  be  multiplied  enough  to  make  it  possible  to  set  out 
a  generous  number  of  blossoming  plants  which  will  be  an  orna- 
ment to  the  school  grounds. 

Individual  plots. — Pupils  of  the  third  and  fourth  grades  will 
probably  want  to  have  plots  of  their  own  with  which  they  can  do 
pretty  much  as  they  please.  They  have  worked  in  the  common 
plots  in  kindergarten  and  lower  grades  and  have  acquired  some 
skill  in  handling  garden  tools  and  in  rearing  both  vegetables  and 
flowers.  It  is  a  fairly  good  experiment  to  throw  them  on  their 
own  responsibility  and  to  let  them  plant  their  individual  plots 
somewhat  as  they  please.  This  will  probably  not  produce  an 
attractive  school  garden,  for  they  will  frequently  want  to  plant 
a  dozen  different  things  in  their  small  areas;  but  inasmuch  as 
we  are  endeavoring  primarily  to  develop  children  and  not  to 
grow  garden  stuff  it  is  wise  to  let  the  garden  suffer  if  it  is  of  any 
advantage  to  the  children.  The  originality  and  self-expression 
th?  t  the  child  achieves,  together,  often,  with  an  acknowledgment 
at  the  end  of  the  season  that  he  needs  the  teacher's  guidance  and 
instruction,  are  worth-while  ends. 

Plants  for  individual  plots. — The  pupil  will  probably  want  to 
plant  in  his  own  garden  some  of  the  things  that  he  tried  in  the 
common  plots  of  the  lower  grades.  Here  are  some  additional 
plants  that  may  be  suggested  to  him.  Flowers:  asters,  car- 
nation, chrysanthemum,  four-o'clock,  foxglove,  hollyhock,  lark- 
spur, lobelia,  phlox,  poppy,  sal  via.  Vegetables:  lima  beans, 
cabbage,  eggplant,  onion,  parsnip,  squash,  sweet  corn,  tomatoes, 
turnips.  This  list  includes  some  plants,  such  as  asters,  chrys- 
anthemums, and  salvias,  that  need  to  be  planted  early  in  trays 
and  then  set  out.  It  includes  also  some  perennials,  such  as 
hollyhock,  perennial  phlox,  and  larkspur,  that  can  be  planted 


420       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

in  early  September  and  that  will  then  develop  into  little  plants 
which  will  bloom  the  next  summer.  They  may  also  be  planted 
early  in  the  spring  in  the  pans,  and  there  is  some  likelihood  that 
they  will  then  blossom  the  same  season. 

Planting  in  trays. — The  seeds  of  most  of  these  perennials  are 
small.  They  are  planted  as  follows :  A  flat  earthenware  pan  or 
wooden  tray  three  or  four  inches  deep  is  filled  with  earth  to 
within  an  inch  of  the  top.  This  earth  should  be  sifted,  and  it  is 
well  to  bake  it  thoroughly  in  order  to  destroy  weed  seeds,  after 
which  it  must  be  well  moistened.  After  making  the  surface  of 
the  earth  firm  and  sprinkling  the  seeds  upon  it,  cover  them  with 
a  thin  layer  of  earth  and  gently  make  it  firm.  Cut  half  a  dozen 
thicknesses  of  newspaper  of  the  proper  size  to  fit  the  top  of  the 
pan  or  tray.  Lay  these  on  the  earth  and  moisten  them.  The 
water  poured  on  the  paper  will  not  wash  out  the  seeds  below. 
The  moistened  paper  may  be  left  on  until  the  little  plants  begin 
to  break  through  the  earth. 

Setting  out. — As  soon  as  the  young  plantlets  have  developed 
their  second  leaves  transplant  them  in  rows  in  other  trays,  and 
after  they  have  grown  to  a  height  of  two  or  three  inches  plant 
them  out  in  the  garden.  Seeds  of  aster,  chrysanthemum,  salvias, 
and  other  plants  may  be  planted  in  early  March,  in  the  latitude 
of  Chicago,  and  will  be  ready  to  set  out  by  the  last  of  April. 
These  seedling  plants  should  be  grown  where  it  is  moderately 
cool  and  in  a  window  where  they  can  have  light.  If  they  are  kept 
too  warm  or  if  they  are  back  in  the  room  away  from  the  light 
they  become  spindling.  It  is  difficult  to  produce  hardy  plants 
for  transplanting  under  such  conditions. 

Competitive  planting. — It  may  be  well  to  make  this  task  of 
growing  little  plants  in  the  trays  and  transplanting  them  to 
the  garden  the  chief  garden  work  of  these  grades.  In  the  list 
of  vegetables  given  above  there  are  several  that  need  to  be 
started  indoors — cabbage,  eggplant,  and  tomato,  for  example. 
It  might  be  interesting  in  these  grades,  after  the  method  of 
growing  the  little  plants  indoors  has  been  learned  in  the  third 


THE  GARDEN 


421 


grade,  to  have  a  race  in  the  fourth  grade  to  see  what  child  can 
produce  the  earliest  bloom  or  have  the  earliest  vegetable  from 
these  plants  that  must  be  started  indoors.  This  early  growing 
is  one  of  the  arts  of  the  successful  truck  gardener.  Quite  com- 
monly, in  the  early  spring,  prices  are  very  much  higher  for  the 
first  vegetables  that  come  in  than  they  are  for  the  later  ones,  and 
consequently  it  is  very  much  worth  while  for  the  truck  gardener 
to  beat  his  competitors  to  mar- 
ket, even  by  a  few  days.  And 
it  is  always  a  matter  of  pride 
to  have  lettuce  and  cauliflower 
and  tomatoes  in  the  home  gar- 
den ahead  of  one's  neighbors. 

Cabbage  and  lettuce.— 
Cabbage  and  cauliflower 
should  be  set  out  in  the  garden 
when  the  young  plants  have 
three  or  four  leaves.  It  is  well 
to  shade  the  young  plants  dur- 
ing the  heat  of  the  day,  and, 
if  they  are  set  out  very  early, 
to  cover  them  at  night.  In 
the  small  garden  old  tin  cans 
serve  this  purpose  very  well. 
Lettuce  may  be  set  out  when  the  plants  have  two  or  three  leaves 
on  them,  as  they  will  stand  light  frosts  when  so  young  as  this. 

Tomatoes. — Tomatoes,  cabbage,  and  cauliflower  will  not 
stand  frosts  and  may  not  be  set  out  until  all  danger  from  them  is 
past,  unless  one  is  willing  to  take  chances.  Tomato  plants  may 
be  six  or  seven  inches  high  when  transplanted.  All  four  of  the 
vegetables  mentioned  may  be  set  out  when  larger  than  stated 
above,  if  they  have  been  transplanted  from  trays  to  small  pots, 
in  which  they  have  been  grown  as  individual  plants. 

Plants  grown  in  pots. — It  is  much  easier  to  transplant  fairly 
large  plants  from  pots  than  from  trays,  since  in  the  former  case 


FIG.  292. — Taking  plant  out  of  pot 
to  transplant. 


422        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUD?  . 

the  root  system  needs  to  be  disturbed  very  little.  To  remove  the 
plant  from  the  pot,  take  hold  of  the  plant  stem  close  to  the 
ground  and  spread  the  rest  of  the  hand  out  over  the  mouth  of 
the  pot.  Turn  the  pot  upside  down  and  strike  the  rim  of  the  pot 
lightly  on  the  edge  of  the  table  or  tap  it  with  the  handle  of  the 
trowel  (Fig.  292).  Two  or  three  light  jars  will  loosen  the  earth 
from  the  sides  of  the  pot,  and  together  with  the  roots  it  will  drop 
upon  the  outspread  hand.  The  pot  can  then  be  lifted  off  and 


FIG.  293. — Setting  out  plants  from  pots 

the  plant  set  into  the  hole  in  the  earth  previously  dug  for  it. 
Press  the  earth  firmly  about  it  (Fig.  293). 

Staking  and  trimming. — Tomatoes  are  to  be  staked,  even 
from  the  time  when  they  are  set  out  in  the  home  garden.  It  is 
well  to  let  only  a  single  stalk  grow  up  from  the  roots,  and  this 
stalk  should  be  tied  to  a  stick  with  raffia  or  strips  of  cloth,  but 
not  so  tightly  as  to  retard  growth.  As  the  plant  grows  taller 
substitute  a  taller  trellis  for  the  stake  used  at  first.  In  addition 
to  the  main  stem  let  two  or  three  branches  grow  out  from  the 


THE  GARDEN 


stalk  about  a  foot  above  ground.  With  good  soil  such  varieties 
as  Earlianna  and  Matchless  will  grow  to  a  height  of  three  or  four 
feet.  When  these  plants  are  well  loaded  with  tomatoes  it  is 
advisable  to  trim  off  the  tips  of  the  branches  so  that  they  will 
mature  the  crop  that  they  have  rather  than  form  new  tomatoes. 
Such  varieties  as  Ponderosa  and  Grand  Pacific  will  grow  to  a 
height  of  five  to  eight  feet.  The  tomatoes  will  weigh  a  pound  or, 


FIG.  294. — The  tomato  plot,  showing  plants  tied  up  to  stakes  (photograph 
from  Department  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.C.). 

in  the  case  of  Grand  Pacific,  even  two  pounds  apiece  if  the  tips 
of  the  branches  are  kept  trimmed  back  and  not  too  many 
tomatoes  are  allowed  to  form  on  a  single  plant  (Fig.  294). 

It  is  well  to  plant  at  least  three  varieties  of  tomatoes,  one  a 
very  early  variety  like  Earlianna,  one  a  midseason  tomato  like 
Matchless  and  Ponderosa,  and  one  for  late  fall  use  like  Grand 
Pacific.  Other  equally  good  varieties  may  be  found  mentioned 
in  any  of  the  seed  catalogues. 


424       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

The  demonstration  plot. — Beyond  the  early  grades,  if  not 
sooner,  under  most  conditions  the  teacher  should  endeavor  to 
stimulate  interest  in  the  home  garden,  reserving  the  schooj 
garden  for  a  demonstration  plot.  This  plot  may  be  parceled 
out  to  individual  pupils,  each  of  whom  has  his  own  problem  to 
work  out,  or  it  may  be  worked  as  a  grade  plot,  all  pupils  helping 
to  care  for  the  particular  project  under  way.  The  tasks  assigned 
in  the  fifth  and  sixth  grades  may  be  the  culture  of  some  of  the 
less  common  vegetables  and  flowers  or  the  care  of  smaller  fruits, 
such  as  currants,  strawberries,  and  grapes.  Competitive  tests 
to  see  which  pupils  can  grow  the  largest  pumpkins,  the  largest 
sugar  beet,  or  the  maximum  weight  of  tomatoes  from  a  single 
plant  may  be  inaugurated.  Pupils  may  select  some  three  or  four 
vegetables  and  flowers  that  they  wish  to  learn  how  to  grow,  and 
a  row  of  each  may  be  started  in  the  plot  for  that  grade ;  or  each 
pupil  may  take  some  one  variety  for  his  or  her  own  share  of 
the  school  plot. 

The  cabbage  family. — A  grade  garden  devoted  to  the  various 
varieties  of  the  cabbage  family  makes  a  good  demonstration  plot. 
Cabbage,  Brussels  sprouts,  cauliflower,  broccoli,  kale,  and 
kohl-rabi  can  all  be  grown,  and  one  or  more  of  these  plants  are 
almost  certain  to  be  a  novelty  in  any  locality.  Early  Wakefield 
is  a  good  early  cabbage;  late  flat  Dutch  is  a  late  sort  that  is 
valuable.  In  cauliflowers  early  dwarf  Erfurt  and  snowball  are 
excellent.  Early  white  and  mammoth  white  are  good  varieties 
of  broccoli.  Brussels  sprouts  are  well  grown  from  seed  of  Long 
Island  and  Dalkeith.  Early  white  Vienna  kohl-rabi  is  about  as 
good  a  variety  as  any  and  the  Scotch  kales  are  among  the  best. 
These  plants  can  all  be  started  as  has  already  been  described 
for  cabbage  and  can  be  set  out  when  danger  from  frost  is  over. 
Pupils  may  read  up  on  the  care  of  these  vegetables  in  such 
garden  books  as  are  available  (see  bibliography).  The  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  issues  free  bulletins  on  many  of  them,  as  do 
several  states.  When  a  cabbage  plot  is  undertaken,  pupils  are 
very  sure  to  learn  much  from  the  school  plot  concerning  the 


THE  GARDEN  425 

life-history  of  the  cabbage  worm.  It  is  an  interesting  life- 
history  (see  chapter  on  " Insects").  It  is  essential  to  know  how 
to  apply  the  remedy  for  this  pest.  Spray  the  plants  when  worms 
appear,  and  as  often  as  they  appear,  until  they  begin  to  head, 
with  one-fifth  ounce  of  Paris  green  dissolved  in  two  gallons  of 
hot  water  (or  one  gram  per  liter). 

To  test  varieties. — It  would  be  worth  while  to  grow  a  number 
of  different  kinds  of  cabbages  or  of  other  vegetables  in  the  grade 
garden  to  see  what  kind  is  best  adapted  to  the  particular  soil  and 
climatic  conditions  of  the  locality.  One  school  child  of  eight 
tested  out  twenty  or  more  varieties  of  radish  seed  and  found  that 
one  sort  produced  in  her  yard  five  or  six  times  as  large  a  crop  as 
any  other.  Thus,  after  trying  many  varieties  for  several  seasons, 
she  settled  on  this  one  variety  as  her  main  reliance,  and  every 
spring  for  several  years  sold  several  dollars'  worth  of  radishes. 
The  demonstration  school  plot  might  do  good  service  in  any 
community  by  testing  out  a  number  of  varieties  of  all  the  com- 
moner vegetables.  The  following  vegetables  are  good  ones  to 
try:  celery,  cress,  cucumbers,  eggplant,  endive,  lettuce,  musk- 
melon,  crook-neck  squash,  summer  squash,  and  spinach.  A 
similar  list  of  flowers  is  as  follows:  asters,  Canterbury  bells, 
columbine,  carnations,  cosmos,  foxglove,  hollyhocks,  larkspur, 
petunia.  The  teacher  should  keep  notes  on  the  successes  and 
failures,  the  methods  of  culture,  etc.,  so  that  her  experience  will 
at  least  be  cumulative. 

Asparagus. — In  addition  the  children  of  these  grades  may 
have  the  care  of  the  asparagus  bed,  the  rhubarb,  and  the  small 
fruits.  In  light  soil  asparagus  roots  (it  does  not  grow  true  from 
seed)  are  to  be  set  in  fairly  deep  trenches.  Dig  the  trench  two 
feet  deep  and  a  foot  wide.  Put  eight  inches  of  manure  in  the 
trench,  and  after  stamping  it  down  cover  it  with  a  layer  of 
mellow  soil  six  inches  deep.  Make  it  firm.  Put  in  the  roots 
three  feet  apart  and  cover  them  with  soil  made  firm.  In  heavy 
soil,  such  as  rich  clay,  the  roots  may  be  set  ten  inches  deep  in 
deeply  spaded  soil,  well  fertilized.  Rows  should  be  three  or  four 


426       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

feet  apart.  In  the  early  spring,  when  weed  seeds  are  just  ger- 
minating, and  before  the  asparagus  stalks  appear,  salt  the  surface 
of  the  ground  heavily  with  rock  salt,  five  pounds  to  a  square  rod. 
This  kills  the  weeds.  Keep  the  later  weeds  pulled  and  the  bed 
well  tilled  between  rows.  If  three-year-old  roots  are  planted  one 
spring  the  asparagus  may  be  cut  sparingly  the  next ;  but  if  two- 
year-old  roots  are  set  let  the  bed  stand  two  years,  or  even  three 
years,  before  cutting.  Ordinarily  not  more  than  five  or  six 
stalks  should  be  cut  from  each  root  in  a  year.  Let  the  rest  grow. 
Roots  below  ground  are  formed  in  proportion  to  the  growth  of 
tops  above.  Let  the  tops  stand  until  killed  by  frost,  or  even 
until  early  spring,  but  clear  them  off  before  salting.  When  the 
tops  grow  thickly  five  or  six  feet  high,  the  stalks  appearing  early 
in  the  spring  will  be  nearly  an  inch  in  diameter  and  very  tender. 
Such  stalks  will  grow  only  from  roots  that  are  not  exhausted 
from  too  much  cutting  during  the  preceding  season. 

Currant  cuttings. — In  the  early  spring,  before  the  buds  on 
the  currant  bushes  show  signs  of  bursting,  cut  off  some  of  the 
twigs.  Place  these  in  a  box  of  sand  six  inches  deep  for  propaga- 
tion. Each  twig,  which  is  about  six  inches  long,  is  to  be  stripped 
of  all  but  its  uppermost  pair  of  buds  and  is  then  to  be  stuck  deeply 
into  the  sand,  so  that  the  buds  are  just  above  ground.  Keep 
the  sand  moist,  not  wet,  and  set  the  box  in  a  cool  place,  like  the 
cellar,  but  not  in  a  place  where  the  temperature  will  ever  fall 
near  the  freezing-point.  Roots  will  form  on  many  of  these  twigs, 
leaves  will  develop,  and  when  the  warm  spring  days  come  the 
plants  may  be  set  out  in  the  ground.  Anyone  in  the  community 
who  raises  currants  will  give  some  cuttings  for  the  school  garden. 
You  may  also  buy  one  or  two  plants,  and  when  they  have  a  good 
start  take  cuttings  from  them.  Plants  should  be  set  at  least 
five  feet  apart  each  way.  Red  Dutch  is  the  best  variety,  as  it 
is  hardy  and  is  free  from  the  borers  that  attack  currants.  Other 
varieties  are  larger  (cherry,  Fay,  etc.)  and  they  may  be  tried. 
Currants  need  pruning  yearly,  the  old  canes  being  cut  out,  since 
only  the  young  ones  bear  the  fruit.  The  currant  worms  are 


THE  GARDEN  427 

eliminated  by  dusting  the  leaves  freely  with  white  hellebore. 
Leaf  blight,  or  leaf  spot,  is  prevented  by  spraying  the  unfolding 
leaves  with  Bordeaux  mixture.  Pupils  should  read  cultural 
directions  for  currants  so  as  to  make  the  currant  patch  a  neigh- 
borhood model. 

Grape  culture. — In  a  similar  way  cuttings  of  grapes  may  be 
propagated.  In  ordering  the  plants  select  them  so  as  to  have 
several  varieties,  such  as  Catawba,  Niagara,  Diamond,  Moore's 
early,  and  Worden,  which  mature  at  different  times.  The  usual 
country  grape  arbor  bears  worthless  grapes  because  the  vines  are 
not  properly  pruned.  Prune  back  heavily,  leaving  only  one 
main  stalk  five  or  six  feet  high  to  grow.  Let  it  bear  only  two  or 
three  horizontal  branches,  and  cut  these  back  every  fall  (late)  to 
within  four  or  five  feet  of  the  main  stem.  Support  the  vine  on 
a  trellis. 

The  home  garden. — This  garden  may  serve  a  variety  of  pur- 
poses. By  it  the  child  may  contribute  in  no  small  measure  to 
the  support  of  the  home;  and  the  flower  garden  will  surely  add  to 
the  pleasure  of  the  home.  While  vegetables  are  usually  cheap, 
a  fresh  supply  from  the  back  yard  at  all  seasons  conduces  to  a 
healthful  diet  and  to  economic  self-support  (Fig.  295).  An 
ordinary  back-yard  garden  fifty  by  seventy-five  feet  may  grow, 
under  the  care  of  a  boy  or  girl,  from  twenty-five  to  seventy-five 
dollars'  worth  of  garden  stuff.  This  is  no  mean  contribution  to 
the  income  of  the  ordinary  family.  Much  of  this  will  be  for 
home  consumption,  but  not  a  little  may  be  sold  in  the  neighbor- 
hood if  the  plants  are  chosen  wisely.  One  boy  of  the  author's 
acquaintance  sold  $2.85  worth  of  head  lettuce  from  his  patch. 
Another  disposed  of  $4.25  worth  of  golden  bantam  sweet  corn. 
One  girl  sold  $7 . 50  worth  of  tomato  plants  out  of  her  cold  frame 
and  then  had  plenty  left  to  plant  her  patch.  One  strawberry 
patch  of  a  hundred  hills  produced  ninety-eight  quarts  in  one 
season  for  home  consumption,  canning,  and  sale.  These  choice 
early  berries  sold  at  fifteen  cents  a  quart.  This  was  only  one 
bed  in  the  home  garden. 


428       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Family  interest. — Not  infrequently  the  father  and  mother 
become  interested  in  the  boy's  or  the  girl's  garden,  and  as  a 
result  the  whole  family  works  to  keep  things  shipshape.  If  there 
is  an  extensive  home  garden  the  child  should  have  his  own  plot 
to  plan,  plant,  and  care  for.  Parents  may  help  him  and  he  may 
help  in  their  garden  plot,  but  the  responsibility  of  an  area  all  his 


FIG.  295. — A  back-yard  garden 

own  is  one  feature  that  tends  to  develop  the  desirable  qualities 
in  the  growing  child. 

The  farm  acre. — The  child's  home  plot  may  be  primarily  a 
commercial  venture.  This  is  most  likely  to  be  true  on  the  farm, 
where  the  boy  may  be  given  an  acre  to  cultivate  and  to  devote 
to  a  single  crop.  And  it  is  surprising  what  returns  have  come  in 
from  these  one-acre  plots.  One  boy  I  know  grew  $300  worth  of 
onions  on  his  acre;  another  produced  over  $50  worth  of  garlic  on 
a  tenth  of  an  acre  (Fig.  296).  One  incorrigible  boy — a  perpetual 


THE  GARDEN 


429 


source  of  annoyance  to  the  teacher  until  the  garden  project  was 
started — grew  cabbage  on  his  little  garden  plot  4  by  10  feet.  The 
next  year  he  begged  for  a  larger  space.  He  had  no  back  yard, 
as  he  was  a  lad  of  the  city  tenements;  On  the  larger  plot  he 
again  grew  cabbage  and  made  enough  money  to  hire  a  vacant 
lot  the  next  year.  On  this  he  grew  cabbage  and  cleared  enough 
to  hire  a  horse  and  to  purchase  three  acres  at  the  end  of  the  car 
line.  That  three-acre  garden  was  maintained  for  three  years, 


FIG.  296. — A  farm  boy's  acre  of  onions 

and  then  the  boy,  only  in  his  teens,  became  a  capable  truck 
gardener. 

The  teacher's  task. — The  teacher's  task  is  to  stimulate  inter- 
est in  the  home  gardens,  to  supervise  them  in  an  informal 
way,  to  advise,  and  to  be  counselor  in  emergencies.  He  must 
put  the  boy  or  girl  in  touch  with  sources  of  information — books, 
pamphlets,  the  state  agricultural  college,  the  national  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture — so  that  the  chosen  crop  may  be  raised  in 
the  most  approved  way.  He  must  be  able  to  arouse  enthusiasm, 
so  that  when  the  youngster  grows  weary  with  the  endless  task  of 
weeding,  hoeing,  and  cultivating  he  may  be  able  to  keep  him  at 


430       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

it  in  spite  of  the  difficulties.  A  garden  task  dropped  when 
difficulties  thicken  might  better  never  have  been  begun.  Do  not, 
therefore,  encourage  large  projects  until  you  have  led  the  child 
successfully  through  (not  into)  small  ones.  All  of  this  requires 
no  small  degree  of  skill,  tact,  and  trouble.  Let  the  teacher 
count  the  cost  of  such  garden  work  before  it  is  undertaken  and 
not  go  into  it  simply  because  school  gardens  are  in  vogue.  The 
superintendent  should  see  to  it  that  adequate  time  and  facilities 
are  given  to  the  teacher  who  undertakes  garden  work.  Since 
garden  work  must  be  well  done  to  be  at  all  worth  while,  the 
teacher  who  undertakes  it  should  be  largely  relieved  of  other 
work  if  it  is  to  be  given  a  fair  trial. 

The  project  plan. — With  the  two  highest  grades  of  the  ele- 
mentary school  the  project  plan  is  best  pursued,  both  in  the 
school  garden  and  at  home.  The  project  undertaken  may  be  of 
a  somewhat  more  difficult  nature  than  those  already  suggested. 
The  beautification  of  the  home  grounds  and  the  school  grounds 
is  a  worth-while  undertaking.  Flower  beds  and  an  attractive 
lawn  add  to  the  appearance  of  the  humblest  home.  Many  a 
schoolhouse  is  gaunt  and  repulsive  because  no  green  thing  grows 
in  its  grounds.  Shrubs  and  trees  wonderfully  relieve  the  barren- 
ness of  the  school  yard  or  the  home  grounds. 

Propagation  of  shrubs  and  trees. — The  propagation  of  many 
of  the  ordinary  lawn  shrubs  is  easy.  It  is  done  as  has  already 
been  described  for  the  currants.  In  the  early  spring,  when  the 
pruning  of  such  shrubs  is  going  on,  a  supply  of  cuttings  may 
usually  be  had  for  the  asking.  When  rooted,  these  may  be  set 
out  in  rows  in  the  school  garden  and  may  then  be  hoed,  cul- 
tivated, and  cared  for  like  any  other  crop.  In  a  year  or  two 
they  will  be  ready  to  transplant  to  their  permanent  places  on  the 
school  or  home  grounds.  This  is  the  way  nursery  stock  is  handled 
in  propagation.  A  miniature  nursery  may  thus  be  kept  going  in 
order  to  plant  the  school  grounds',  and  stock  may  also  be  taken 
from  it  to  the  home  grounds.  A  school  might  thus  quite  transform 
a  community  where  shrubs  were  not  freely  used  about  the  homes. 


THE  GARDEN  43* 

In  a  similar  way  a  tree  nursery  may  be  started.  In  the  fall 
have  a  nutting  party  to  gather  acorns  from  the  white  oak,  scar- 
let oak,  or  other  desired  species  of  oak,  as  well  as  hickory 
nuts,  walnuts,  hazel  nuts,  and  the  seeds  of  ash,  maple,  syca- 
more, or  other  desired  trees.  Plant  such  nuts  or  seeds  in  the 
spring  and  rear  the  seedlings.  It  is  well  to  crack  (not  crush)  the 
shells  of  acorns,  walnuts,  hickory  nuts,  etc.,  before  planting,  as 
they  will  germinate  more  readily.  It  may  be  quite  possible  to 
obtain  saplings  of  trees  from  neighboring  woods  for  planting  on 
the  school  and  the  home  grounds.  All  that  is  necessary,  then, 
is  to  stimulate  interest  in  the  project. 

Transplanting  trees. — Transplant  deciduous  saplings  in  the 
late  fall  or  early  spring;  transplant  evergreens  in  September  or 
October.  Remember  that  the  root  system  below  ground  is 
about  as  large  as  the  branches  and  twigs — the  head  of  the 
tree — above  ground.  Move  as  many  as  possible  of  the  roots, 
taking  up  a  great  ball  of  earth  with  them.  Have  the  hole 
already  dug  to  receive  the  tree;  set  the  sapling  in  position 
and  stamp  the  earth  as  it  is  shoveled  in  about  the  roots. 
If  the  transplanting  is  done  in  the  spring  the  earth  may  be 
washed  in  around  the  roots,  bucketfuls  of  water  being  thrown 
into  the  hole  as  the  dirt  is  put  in.  In  spite  of  care  many 
roots  are  broken  in  transplanting,  and  it  is  well  to  cut  off  the 
twigs  and  branches,  not  only  to  make  the  tree  more  shapely, 
but  to  reduce  the  number  of  buds  the  roots  must  support  the 
first  year.  The  size  of  the  head  left  should  not  exceed  the  mass 
of  roots  transplanted. 

Fruit  trees. — The  tree  nursery  may  well  contain  seedlings  of 
orchard  trees.  Cultivated  stock  seldom  grows  true  from  seed, 
so  that  when  you  plant  a  cherry  pit  or  pliim  stone  you  will 
not  get  the  same  desirable  variety  of  fruit  that  the  seed  came 
from.  Seedlings  of  hardy  sorts  are  reared  to  make  a  vigorous 
root  system  and  then  the  desired  fruit  is  grafted  on  to  the 
stock.  As  a  rule  the  stock  tends  to  revert  to  hardy  ancestral 
types  when  grown  from  seed. 


432       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Grafting. — Plant  seeds  of  apples,  cherries,  peaches,  plums, 
pears,  and  quinces  and  rear  the  seedlings.  When  the  seedlings 
are  two  or  three  years  old  graft  on  the  desired  fruit  as  follows: 
In  early  spring,  before  the  buds  start,  cut  from  a  tree  that  bears 
the  desired  fruit  two  twigs  about  four  inches  long,  each  bearing 
a  few  buds.  With  a  sharp  knife  trim  the  butt  of  each  twig  into 


FIG.  297. — The  method  of  grafting:  a,  the  stub  ready  to  graft;  b,  splitting  the 
stub  (a  jackknife  may  as  well  be  used) ;  c,  the  scion.  It  should  be  from  a  bearing 
branch  on  a  fruitful  tree  and  should  have  well-developed  buds  (like  d);  never  cut 
it  from  a  sucker;  taper  it  as  shown  in  c;  e,  opening  the  cut  to  receive  scions;  /, 
scions  in  place;  g,  wax  applied  to  juncture  of  stub  of  scions  and  tips  of  scions.  If 
both  scions  grow  break  off  one  (Country  Life  in  America,  April,  1905). 

a  thin  wedge  an  inch  and  a  half  long.  These  are  now  the.  grafts. 
Keep  these  freshly  cut  surfaces  moist  while  you  prepare  the  scion. 
Cut  one  of  your  saplings  square  off  six  inches  above  ground. 
Split  the  stump  for  a  couple  of  inches,  leaving  the  knife  in  the 
bottom  of  the  cut  to  hold  the  halves  apart.  Set  in  the  two  twigs 
vertically,  one  on  each  side,  so  that  the  cambium  layer  on  one 
side  of  each  wedge  is  in  contact  with  the  cambium  layer  of  the 
scion.  Withdraw  the  knife  so  that  the  split  closes  and  holds 


THE  GARDEN 


433 


the  grafts  firmly.  Immediately  smear  the  area  of  operation 
with  grafting  wax  or  bind  with  bicycle  tire  tape  so  as  to  cover 
all  cut  surfaces  and  close  all  cracks  (Fig.  297). 

Grafting  wax. — It  is  made  thus:    Melt  together  in  a  kettle 
one  part,  by  weight,  of  tallow,  two  of  beeswax,  and  four  of  resin. 


FIG.  298. — A  well-pruned  young  fruit  tree  and  an  old  one  that  was  not  well 
trimmed  when  young. 

Pour  the  mixture  into  a  bucket  of  cold  water  and  work  it  with 
the  hands  (which  have  been  greased),  as  you  would  knead  bread 
dough,  until  it  becomes  the  color  of  molasses  candy.  It  will 
keep  for  years  if  made  into  a  ball  and  put  away  in  a  cool  cellar. 
Care  after  grafting. — Use  two  grafts  to  double  the  chances 
of  success.  After  one  is  evidently  well  established  cut  off  the 


434       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

other,  even  if  it,  too,  is  growing.  Apples  and  pears  grafted  upon 
quinces  will  give  dwarf  trees;  wild  crab  apples  may  be  used  as 
scion  stock  for  apples,  wild  cherry  for  cultivated  cherry  as  an 
experiment,  and  cultivated  plums  do  well  grafted  upon  wild  ones. 
After  the  graft  is  growing  well  it  must  be  pruned,  at  first  to  make 
it  grow  tall  and  later  to  make  the  head  low  and  open.  Every 
year  any  dead  branches  must  be  cut  out,  and  all  branches  should 
be  cut  back  (Fig.  298). 

Distances  for  planting. — Fruit  trees  frequently  bear  poorly 
because  they  are  set  too  close  together.  The  following  list 
indicates,  for  the  more  common  fruits,  the  distance  in  any 
direction  from  one  tree  to  the  next:  apples  30  ft.;  cherries  20 
ft.;  peaches  20  ft.;  pears  20  ft.;  plums  16  ft.;  quinces  10  ft. 
Distances  for  dwarf  apples  and  pears  are  half  that  given  above. 

The  planting  plan. — In  planting  both  home  grounds  and 
school  grounds  it  is  well  to  work  to  a  planting  plan.  Draw  to 
scale  a  map  or  plan  of  the  yard,  locating  buildings,  walks,  and 
any  trees  or  shrubbery  already  in  place.  The  area  to  be  used 
for  the  school  garden  may  be  indicated  on  this.  The  working 
plan  of  this  garden  will  best  be  drawn  on  a  separate  sheet  to  a 
large  scale. 

The  lawn. — The  fundamental  part  of  any  scheme  of  beauti- 
fication  is  the  lawn  (Fig.  299).  Cover  the  yard  with  well-rotted 
manure  and  have  it  plowed  deeply.  It  should  then  be  har- 
rowed and  should  later  be  hand-raked  to  make  it  fine.  Lawn 
grass  is  usually  a  mixture  of  several  varieties,  for  if  a  single  sort 
be  planted  it  is  likely  to  mature  and  die  down  before  the  season 
is  over.  It  is  economy,  in  the  long  run,  to  buy  the  best  of  seed 
from  a  reliable  dealer  and  to  trust  to  his  experience  to  provide  a 
seed  suited  to  a  particular  climate  and  type  of  soil.  The  seed 
is  to  be  mixed  with  its  own  volume  of  dry  sand  and  is  to  be  sown 
broadcast  on  a  windless  day.  A  pound  of  seed  sows  about  three 
square  rods  of  ground.  Surely  the  school  board  should  provide 
the  lawn.  However,  I  have  known  pupils  to  spade  the  school 
yard  and  sod  it  piecemeal  for  three  years  when  an  indifferent 


THE  GARDEN 


435 


board  would  do  nothing,  turning  a  barren  yard  into  a  very  re- 
spectable lawn. 

Placing  trees  and  shrubs. — In  placing  trees  and  shrubbery 
the  aim  should  be:  (i)  to  hide  the  basement  walls,  not  so  much 
because  they  are  ugly  as  to  make  the  home  or  school  look  more 
cozy,  snuggled  down  in  a  nest  of  green;  (2)  to  border  lawns  with 
clumps  of  shrubbery.  Nothing  is  more  effectually  decorative 


FIG.  299. — A  well-kept  lawn  (from  The  Illinois  Way  of  Beautifying  the  Farm) 

than  a  wide  stretch  of  fine  lawn.  Do  not  break  it  up  with  flower 
beds,  shrubs,  or  trees  set  out  in  the  middle  of  it.  Keep  them 
back  along  the  edges.  They  will  appear  to  better  advantage,  as 
will  also  the  lawn.  Clumps  of  shrubs  at  the  turns  of  roads  and 
paths  afford  an  apparent  reason  for  the  turn.  Study  the  effects 
from  the  inside  of  the  house.  The  views  from  the  windows 
should  be  enhanced,  not  hindered,  by  trees  and  shrubs.  Long 
vistas  are  desirable,  and  if  these  can  be  framed  in  drooping 
tree  branches,  so  much  the  better.  Consider  the  room  and  its 


436       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

furnishings  a  part  of  the  picture.  The  flowers  that  nod  on  the 
shrubs  outside  the  window  should  not  shout  at  the  window  hang- 
ings or  the  wall  paper.  Colors  should  at  least  harmonize.  The 
house  color  must  also  be  considered.  A  crimson  rambler  grow- 
ing against  a  red  brick  house  may  lose  its  beauty,  while  a  white 
Dorothy  climbing  rose  will  be  set  off  exquisitely  by  its  back- 
ground. 

Succession  of  bloom. — In  planting  both  flower  beds  and  beds 
of  shrubbery  one  must  consider  time  of  bloom,  so  as  to  be  sure  of 
a  succession  of  color.  It  is  possible  for  one  to  plant  together 
such  shrubs  as  will  all  bloom  simultaneously  and  produce  a 
confusion  of  inharmonious  blossoms.  A  little  planning  will 
suggest  a  group  of  shrubs  that  will  come  into  bloom  in  succession, 
and  so  keep  in  the  mass  some  points  of  color  from  early  spring 
until  late  fall. 

Relative  heights  important. — Then,  too,  the  varying  heights 
of  the  mature  shrubs  must  be  considered,  so  that  the  tall  ones 
may  be  planted  in  the  center  of  the  clump,  the  shorter  ones  put 
next,  and  the  very  low  ones  used  as  the  border.  Variations  in 
shade  of  foliage  should  be  kept  in  mind.  By  combining  dark 
greens,  light  greens,  variegated  foliage,  and  autumnal  tints  one 
can  have  a  shrub  border  that  will  be  pleasing  all  the  year  round 
merely  because  of  its  shades  of  green.  There  is  no  reason  why 
fruit  trees,  especially  the  dwarf  sorts,  should  not  be  used  on  the 
lawn,  both  for  ornamental  effect  and  for  fruit.  Quince,  cherry, 
and  apple  trees  are  all  beautiful  in  blossom  as  well  as  when  full 
of  fruit. 

Attracting  the  birds. — It  is  worth  while,  in  planting,  to  put 
in  such  shrubs  as  will  bear  fruit  that  the  birds  appreciate.  A 
list  of  such  shrubs  is  given  in  the  chapter  on  " Birds."  The 
presence  of  the  birds  about  the  lawn  or  garden  is  worth  cultivat- 
ing, just  for  the  protection  they  give  the  garden  from  the 
depredations  of  insect  pests. 

Hybridization  projects. — One  project  that  should  certainly  be 
undertaken  in  the  upper  grades  is  the  hybridization  of  some  of 


THE  GARDEN  437 

the  common  garden  plants  in  order  to  make  clear  the  principle 
involved.  In  modern  agriculture  much  has  been  accomplished 
by  the  application  of  what  little  is  known  regarding  the  laws  of 
inheritance.  Our  modern  comprehension  of  these  laws  dates 
back  only  a  generation,  to  the  work  of  an  Austrian  monk, 
Johann  Mendel.  His  work  was  done  on  garden  peas ;  and  these 
plants  would  make  good  material  with  which  to  repeat  his 
experiments.  Corn  is  also  a  good  plant  with  which  to  experi- 
ment. 

MendeV s  work. — Mendel  was  impressed  with  the  need  of  a 
better  understanding  of  this  very  fundamental  matter  of  inherit- 
ance. After  years  of  experimental  study  he  published,  in  1868, 
his  conclusions  in  a  rather  obscure  journal,  the  Proceedings  of 
the  Briinn  Natural  History  Society.  It  was  not  until  1900  that 
the  importance  of  these  studies  was  recognized,  since  which  time 
his  results  have  been  known  as  "Mendel's  Laws  of  Inheritance." 
He  crossed  two  pea  vines,  one  bearing  peas  which  were  green,  the 
other  a  vine  bearing  yellow  peas  when  mature.  The  method  of 
procedure  is  as  follows: 

The  way  to  hybridize. — Just  before  the  flower  buds  are  about 
to  open  naturally,  forcibly  open  several  of  them  on  both  sorts  of 
vines  and  remove  the  anthers.  Inclose  each  blossom  thus 
treated  in  a  small  paper  bag  to  prevent  pollen  from  reaching  the 
stigma.  When  the  blossoms  open  naturally,  thereby  showing 
that  the  stigmas  are  ready  to  receive  the  pollen,  dust  off  with  a 
small  camel's-hair  brush  some  of  the  pollen  from  the  anthers  of  a 
blossom  on  the  vines  grown  from  green  peas,  and  transfer  some 
of  the  pollen  to  the  stigma  of  a  blossom  on  the  yellow-pea  vine 
which  lias  been  previously  relieved  of  its  anthers,  as  directed 
above.  Treat  all  the  bagged  yellow-pea  blossoms  in  this  manner. 
Fertilize  the  bagged  blossoms  on  the  vines  bearing  green  peas 
with  the  pollen  from  the  yellow  sort. 

The  hybrid  peas. — After  thus  pollinating  the  peas  keep  the 
blossoms  tied  up  in  the  bags.  Let  the  pods  form,  and  when  they 
are  mature  pick  them  and  keep  the  peas.  All  are  found  to  be 


438       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


yellow,  as  yellow  color  in  peas  is  dominant  over  green.  These 
peas  belong  to  the  first  hybrid  generation,  designated  the  Fj 
generation.  Plant  these  peas  and  let  them  self-pollinate.  The 
plants  grown  from  these  are  the  second  hybrid  generation,  or 
the  F2  generation.  The  peas  they  bear  will  be  found  to  be 
approximately  one-fourth  green  and  three-fourths  yellow. 

Dominant  features. — Since  the  green  character  recedes  tem- 
porarily from  view,  but  reappears,  it  is  known  as  the  recessive 
character.  Which  of  a  pair  of  opposed  characters  will  be 
dominant  and  which  will  be  recessive  can  be  told  only  by  trial. 
When  these  green  peas  are  planted  and  allowed  to  self -fertilize, 
the  offspring  are  green,  generation  after  generation.  Of  the 
yellow  peas  in  the  F2  generation  one-third  produce  only  yel- 
low peas  in  successive  generations,  but  "two-thirds  (i.e.,  one- 
half  the  F2  generation)  produce  offspring  one-fourth  of  which 
are  pure  green,  one-fourth  pure  yellow,  and  one-half  apparent 
yellow,  but  with  the  recessive  character  present  though  not 
showing. 

Law  holds  only  for  large  numbers. — These  results  obtain  only 
when  large  numbers  of  peas  are  grown.  If  one  pea  of  the  Fx 
generation  were  planted  and  twenty  peas  of  the  F2  generation 
were  reared  the  proportion  given  above  might  not  exactly  hold. 
But  if  one  thousand  peas  of  the  Fz  generation  are  sown  and 
twenty  thousand  peas  of  the  F2  generation  are  harvested  the  law 
will  be  found  to  hold  true  with  considerable  exactness.  Here  are 
given  the  results  Mendel  obtained  in  the  second  generation  in 
several  pairs  of  opposed  characters,  in  each  of  which  the  pro- 
portion of  dominant  to  recessive  is  about  three  to  one. 

NUMBER  PRODUCED  F2 


Dominant 

Recessive 

Length  of  vine 

787  tall 

277  dwarf 

2  84.11 

Color  of  seed              

6  02  2  yellow 

2  ooi  green 

3  01  :  i 

Form  of  seed       

5,474  smooth 

i  850  wrinkled 

2  .06:  i 

Color  of  flower 

705  colored 

244  white 

31  C  '  I 

THE  GARDEN 


439 


Results  in  schematic  form.— Such  results  are  shown  schemati- 
cally as  follows:  Since  peas  are  considered  fundamentally  green, 
and  it  requires  the  presence  of  some  determining  factor  to  change 
them  to  yellow,  it  is  customary  to  designate  the  yellow  factor 
therefore  by  Y,  the  absence  of  the  yellow  factor  by  y.  A  pure 
yellow-pea  plant  is  written  YY,  a  pure  green  by  yy,  the  hybrid 
stock  by  Y(y) ;  the  latter  will  be  yellow  in  appearance  for  the 
yellow  factor  (Y)  is  present.  The  results  of  the  cross  may  be 
represented  by  the  following  diagram: 


YY-yy 
Y(y) 

Parents 
First  generation 

Second  gen.  F2 
Third    gen.  F3 

1 

|      YY 

1       - 
All  YY    1 

|Y(y) 

1  yf 

All  yy 

YY              \  Y(y) 

1 

i   yy 

I               | 

1 

All  YY    All  YY    i  YY  |  Y(y)     i  yy    All  yy     All  yy  Fourth  gen.  F4 

The  foundation  of  the  law. — The  law  follows  necessarily  from 
the  fact  that  the  germ  cells  of  an  Fz  generation  pea  may  be  of  two 
sorts,  those  with  and  those  without  the  factor  that  gives  the 
yellow.  There  may  be  eggs  with  this  factor  and  eggs  without  it. 
These  two  kinds  of  eggs  may  be ,  fertilized  by  two  classes  of 
sperm.  Recall  the  paragraphs  on  fertilization  (p.  239).  The 
results  are  indicated  herewith: 


Sperm              Y        or        y 

Eggs 
or 

y 

YY 

Yy 

Yy 

yy 

This  gives  the  proportion  i  YY:  2  Yy:  i  yy. 

Experience  needed. — This  would  be  quite  meaningless  to 
upper-grade  pupils  if  learned  from  books,  but  if,  in  these  grades, 
pupils  grow  peas  in  the  school  for  the  purpose  of  conducting  the 
hybridizing  experiments,  under  the  direction  of  the  teacher,  they 


440       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

will  work  out  much  of  it  easily  with  concrete  material.  In  two 
successive  summers  four  generations  of  peas  could  be  grown,  and 
some  of  the  more  fundamental  facts  would  be  learned  at  first 
hand. 

As  scientists  have  continued  to  work  on  this  matter  of 
heredity,  they  have  found  that  it  is  not  as  simple  as  the  foregoing 
statement  of  Mendel's  laws  make  it  appear;  in  fact  in  many 
instances  Mendel's  laws  apparently  fail  to  hold  good.  Still  the 
experience  in  hybridizing  the  garden  peas  will  impress  pupils 
with  the  fact  that  heredity  is  no  haphazard  thing,  but  is  an 
orderly  phenomenon,  and  that  the  hereditary  characters  which 
any  plant  or  animal  manifests  may  be  expected  to  reappear  in 
successive  generations  even  if  they  temporarily  disappear. 

Basis  of  stock  improvement. — It  is  the  knowledge  of  the  laws 
of  heredity,  imperfect  as  this  knowledge  is,  that  is  at  the  basis 
of  all  of  our  intelligent  attempts  at  stock  improvement  in  both 
animal  and  plant  breeding.  Thus  Burbank  saw  one  very 
desirable  quality  in  our  native  field  daisy,  namely,  its  great 
hardihood.  It  is  a  rank  weed  that  in  many  places  holds  its  own 
against  severe  competition,  but  it  is  of  relatively  small  size 
and  is  a  rather  dirty  white.  The  Japanese  daisy  is  still  smaller ; 
but  Burbank  noted  that  it  had  a  wonderful  pearly  luster.  In 
England  he  learned  of  a  species  that  was  of  large  size,  but  tender. 
By  hybridization,  he  succeeded  in  combining  these  three  desirable 
characters  in  the  new  Shasta  daisy,  which  has  the  size  of  its 
English  ancestor,  the  luster  of  the  Japanese  daisy,  and  the 
hardihood  of  the  American  progenitor.  It  has  been  difficult  to 
produce  pure  dominant  stock,  for  if  dominant  is  present  in  a 
single  dose  the  daisy  appears  to  possess  the  desired  characters, 
but  some  of  its  offspring  show  recessive  characters,  the  undesir- 
able traits.  Not  all  Shasta  daisy  seed,  therefore,  is  absolutely 
pure  as  yet. 

Hybrid  grains — wheat. — By  a  similar  process  hybrid  grains 
are  being  produced  to  meet  new  requirements.  Thus  a  few  years 
ago,  when  the  great  prairie  regions  of  Western  Canada  (Manitoba 


THE  GARDEN  441 

and  Alberta)  were  made  accessible  to  settlers,  it  was  found  that 
the  soil  was  eminently  adapted  to  growing  wheat.  Some 
phenomenal  crops  were  raised  and  farmers  flocked  to  the  new 
country  to  stake  out  claims;  many  thousands  went  from  the 
Western  United  States,  from  Minnesota,  and  the  Dakotas.  It 
was  soon  discovered,  however,  that  the  heavy  winds  of  the  fall 
and  the  early  frosts  beat  down  or  nipped  the  grain  so  that  only 
in  exceptional  years  could  good  crops  be  harvested.  While 
many  of  the  disappointed  early  settlers  returned  to  the  States, 
those  remaining  appealed  to  the  scientific  breeders  of  England 
for  a  winter  wheat  with  very  strong  stem  that  would  withstand 
the  prevailing  fall  winds,  and  with  the  habit  of  maturing  early. 
Some  Siberian  wheats  were  known  that  matured  early;  other 
late-maturing  sorts  were  known  that  had  exceptionally  strong 
stalks.  With  such  stock  the  scientific  breeders  went  to  work, 
and  in  two  years'  time  seed  with  the  desired  combination  of 
characters  was  on  its  way  to  the  farmers  of  the  Canadian  North- 
west. This  region  is  now  one  of  the  great  wheat  countries  of  the 
world,  and  the  crop  is  reasonably  secure. 

Corn  hybrids. — Different  types  of  corn  are  needed  for  different 
purposes:  if  cornstarch  is  wanted  the  kernel  must  have  a  large 
content  of  starch;  if  the  corn  is  to  be  used  to  feed  cattle  for 
market  it  must  have  a  high  protein  content;  if  it  is  to  be 'used  to 
fatten  pigs  it  needs  more  oil;  if  it  is  to  be  served  as  a  vegetable 
on  our  dinner  tables  it  must  contain  much  sugar.  In  the  arid 
regions  of  the  West  a  drought-resisting  type  must  be  used;  in 
the  North  it  must  be  a  kind  that  will  mature  early. 

The  desirable  corn  plant. — A  corn  plant  is  desirable  that  has 
a  strong  stalk,  sturdy  enough  to  hold  up  and  mature  two  big  ears. 
The  ear  should  have  a  cob  that  is  not  too  thick  and  kernels  that 
are  long  and  of  such  a  shape  that  they  will  fit  together  without 
much  space  between  them,  so  that  there  will  be  a  maximum 
weight  of  corn  on  an  ear.  If  the  kernels  are  short  and  the  cob 
is  thick,  while  the  ear  may  be  large,  only  a  small  proportion  of  it 
will  be  salable  corn.  Then,  too,  the  kernels  must  grow  all  over 


442        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

the  tip  and  well  down  on  the  butt  of  the  ear.  All  the  desired 
characters  are  hard  to  find  in  any  one  variety  of  corn,  so  that  the 
breeder  has  been  busy  hybridizing  and  selecting  in  order  to 
combine  the  best  features  in  one  breed.  This  is  a  slow  process 
at  best,  for  only  pure  dominants  or  pure  recessives  can  be  used 
as  seed  with  any  certainty  of  a  crop  of  the  same  sort.  The 
desired  qualities  are  usually  dominants,  so  that  it  takes  several 
generations  of  trial  and  selection  to  get  a  pure  dominant  strain, 
as  is  evident  from  the  discussion  of  Mendel's  law.  By  planting 


FIG.  300. — A  well-cultivated  corn  patch 

alternate  rows  of  two  types  of  corn,  each  of  which  possesses  some 
of  the  valuable  characters,  many  intelligent  farmers  are  securing 
improved  crops  even  before  seed  that  will  breed  true  is  available. 
This  method  insures  likelihood  of  cross-pollination  and  a  hybrid 
crop,  with  the  production  in  the  corn  crop  of  most  all  of  the 
desired'  characters. 

The  seed  plot. — Most  alert  farmers  now  maintain  a  small  plot 
for  growing  seed.  Whether  it  is  corn,  wheat,  oats,  or  some  other 
crop  that  is  grown,  the  quality  may  be  improved  by  hybridization 
and  selection.  Moreover,  the  problem  is  always  a  local  one — 


THE  GARDEN  443 

the  production  of  a  type  of  plant  that  will  be  most  productive 
on  the  soil  of  particular  farms  and  under  certain  local  conditions. 
This  fact  has  been  best  realized  and  most  successfully  put  into 
practice  in  Norway,  where  Nielson  and  his  staff  of  able  assistants 
at  the  Government  Experiment  Station  have  produced  varied 
types  of  grain,  notably  oats  and  barley,  each  adapted  to  a  dif- 
ferent valley  with  its  peculiar  soil  and  climate.  Thus  the  grain 
production  of  the  country  has  been  very  greatly  increased. 

It  is  very  interesting  to  know  that  boys  and  girls  in  our  own 
country  have  been  no  mean  factor  in  demonstrating  what  can  be 
done  to  increase  the  production  per  acre  by  careful  seed  selection 
and  intensive  cultivation  (Fig.  300).  Jerry  Moore's  record  has 
already  been  noted  (p.  393).  That  same  year  Hannah  Plowden, 
seventeen  years  old,  also  of  South  Carolina,  raised  120  bushels 
from  her  acre.  These  are  but  single  instances  of  the  hundreds 
of  boys  and  girls,  the  country  over,  who  have  produced  more 
than  a  hundred  bushels  per  acre.  In  1914,  334  boys,  in  fifteen 
southern  states,  achieved  this  record.  Carl  Graves,  of  Loso, 
Mississippi,  raised  202  bushels  in  1914.  Delphine  Moore,  an 
Arkansas  girl,  raised  101  bushels  to  the  acre  at  a  cost  of  12  cents 
per  bushel.  Earl  Zeller,  of  Greene  County,  Iowa,  in  three 
successive  years  raised  403  bushels  of  corn  on  an  acre  at  a  cost 
of  9  cents  per  bushel,  netting  $440.80.  John  E.  Devine,  of 
South  Hadley,  Massachusetts,  raised  117  bushels  per  acre;  Hoyt 
Quimby,  of  Harlakender,  Vermont,  obtained  124  bushels; 
Robert  Mack,  of  New  Jersey,  103  bushels.  R.  Ethan  Allen,  of 
Morgantown,  West  Virginia,  raised  680  bushels  of  corn  on  five 
acres,  selling  245  bushels  of  it  as  seed  for  over  $700.00.  All 
these  are  the  achievements  of  boys  and  girls  in  corn  raising. 

There  have  been  similar  accomplishments  by  other  boys  and 
girls  with  other  crops.  Ralph  and  Merle  Hyer,  in  Utah,  raised 
840  and  797  bushels  of  potatoes  to  the  acre.  Howard  Dalton 
in  the  same  state  raised  720  bushels.  The  average  for  the 
country  in  the  best  potato  year  that  has  occurred  was  113.4 
bushels.  Katie  Gunter,  of  Samaria,  South  Carolina,  in  1911 


444       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


FIG.  301.— A  Howard  County  (Maryland)  pig-club  boy  and  his  pig  (photo- 
graph from  Department  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.C.). 


THE  GARDEN 


445 


grew  and  put  up  512  cans  of  tomatoes  at  a  cost  of  4  cents  per 
can,  and  was  champion  for  that  year.    Her  net  profit  was 


FIG.  302. — The  1916  Georgia  pig^club  champion  and  his  pig  raised  on  garbage 
and  setting  the  pace  for  economy  of  production  (photograph  from  the  Department 
of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.C.). 


446       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

$78 .37.  Then  in  successive  years  came  Fay  Parker,  of  Arkansas, 
Clyde  Sullivan,  of  Ousley,  Georgia,  who  raised  and  canned  5,354 
pounds  of  tomatoes  from  a  tenth  of  an  acre,  and  Hester  Sartain, 
of  Walker  County,  Alabama,  with  7,037  pounds  of  tomatoes 
as  her  crop  and  a  profit  of  $146.20.  The  same  year  Winifred 
Goff,  of  Ritchie  County,  West  Virginia,  produced  7,462  pounds 
on  her  tenth  of  an  acre,  though  her  net  profit  was  not  so  great 
as  Miss  Sar tain's.  Miss  Lottie  Luckett,  of  Kentucky,  holds  the 


FIG.  303. — Clifford  Duncan  and  his  prize  calf,  calf-club  contest,  Oklahoma 
City  (Oklahoma)  Fat  Stock  Show,  March,  1917  (photograph  from  Department 
of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.C.). 

record  for  profit  from  a  tenth  of  an  acre  of  tomatoes,  her  profit 
being  $204.77.  Helen  Durham,  of  Bountiful,  Utah,  holds  the 
record  for  variety  in  canning,  having  put  up  in  one  season  95 
sorts  of  fruits,  vegetables,  and  meats.  All  of  this  work  is  under 
the  guidance  of  the  Departments  of  Education  and  of  Agriculture 
of  the  United  States.  It  is  not  the  aim  of  the  work  merely  to 
teach  boys  and  girls  how  to  produce  more  corn  and  more 
tomatoes.  It  is  the  belief  of  those  who  are  guiding  it  all  that 
there  is  large  educative  value  in  such  a  project — in  growing  a 
bumper  crop  or  fattening  a  lot  of  pigs.  To  comprehend  the 


THE  GARDEN  447 

instructions  Uncle  Sam  sends  out,  to  fit  them  to  local  conditions, 
to  meet  successfully  the  many  difficulties  that  are  bound  to  arise, 
to  profit  by  mistakes,  and  to  carry  a  project  through  to  the  end — 
to  do  this  is  to  gain  much  of  an  education.  It  is  an  educative 
scheme,  and  over  a  quarter  of  a  million  boys  and  girls  are  enrolled 
in 'the  various  clubs  now,  the  work  of  which  is  being  rapidly 
graded  and  thoroughly  systematized.  Such  projects  under  the 
guidance  of  the  government  experts  may  be  made  a  part  of  the 
school  garden  work  in  any  community,  and  will  surely  prove 
stimulating.  These  projects  in  the  garden  have  led  to  others  in 
raising  pigs  and  beef  animals,  for  the  boys  and  girls  have  found 
that  it  is  often  more  profitable  to  feed  corn  to  hogs  and  sell  them 
than  to  sell  the  corn  itself.  Thus  have  come  into  existence  the 
boys'  and  girls'  prize  pig  and  beef  clubs  (Figs.  301,  302,  303). 


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John  Lane  &  Co.     $i  .00. 
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$o .  50. 

Beal,  W.  J.    Seed  Disposal.    Boston:  Ginn  &  Co.    $0.40. 
Davis,  K.  C.     School  and  Home  Gardening.     Philadelphia:  J.  B.  Lippincott 

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Green,  Maria  L.    Among  School  Gardens.    New  York:   Charities  Publish- 
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F.  A.  Stokes  Co.    $i .  50. 
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448       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

Miller,   Louise   K.     Children's  Gardens.    New   York:    Appleton   &   Co. 

$1-25. 
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Washington  B.C.     Send  for  list. 
Verrill,  A.  H.     Harper's  Book  for  Young  Gardeners.     New  York:   Harper 

Bros.     $i .  50. 
Villiams,   Dora.     Gardens   and   Their  Meaning.     Boston:     Ginn   &   Co. 

$1.00. 
Farmers'  Bulletins: 

No.  94,  Tha,  Vegetable  Garden. 

No.  1 54,  The  Home  Fruit  Garden,  Preparation  and  Care 

No.  184,  Beautifying  the  Home  Grounds. 

No.  195,  Annual  Flowering  Plants. 

No.  196,  Usefulness  of  the  American  Toad. 

No.  216,  The  School  Garden. 

No.  248,  The  Lawn. 

No.  255,  Home  Vegetable  Garden. 

No.  647,  Home  Garden  in  the  South. 

No.  8 1 8,  The  Small  Vegetable  Garden. 

No.  936,  The  City  and  Suburban  Vegetable  Garden. 

No.  937,  The  Farm  Garden  in  the  North. 
Experiment  Station  Bulletins. 

No.  1 60,  School  Gardens. 

No.  252,  Some  Types  of  Children's  Garden  Work. 
Bureau  of  Education,  School  Home  Garden  Circulars: 

Bulletin  No.  28,  1912.     Cultivating  the  School  Grounds  in  Wake  County, 
North  Carolina. 

Bulletin  No.  31,  1913.     School  and  Home  Gardening  for  Use  in  the 
Primary  Grades. 

Bulletin  No.  40,  1916.     Gardening  in  Elementary  City  Schools. 

Bulletin  No.  6,  1917.     Educative  and  Economic  Possibilities  of  School 
Directed  Home  Gardening  in  Richmond,  Indiana. 

Bulletin  No.  26,  1918.     Garden  Clubs  in  the  Schools  of  Englewood,  New 

Jersey. 
Samples  of  What  States  Supply: 

Bulletin  No.  i,  1905.     School  Gardens  for  California  Schools.     State 
Normal,  Chico,  California. 


THE  GARDEN  449 

Circular  No.  1 70,  Agricultural  Experiment  Station,  Urbana,  Illinois. 

The  Illinois  Way  of  Beautifying  the  Farm. 
Circular  No.  176,  Practical  Help  on  Landscape  Gardening. 
Circular  No.  184,  The  Prairie  Spirit  in  Landscape  Gardening. 
Circular  No.  215,  The  War  Garden  Hotbed. 
Circular  80,  Purdue    University   Agricultural    Experiment    Station, 

La  Fayette,  Indiana.     Home  Gardens. 
Bulletin  No.  9,  Board  of  Education,  Boston,  Massachusetts.     Project 

Study  Outlines  for  Vegetable  Growing. 
Leaflet  No.  4.  1915.    New  Jersey  Department  of  Public  Instruction 

(Trenton).     Vegetable  Gardening. 
College  Bulletin  No.  176.    Oregon  Agricultural  College  (Corvallis). 

School  and  Home  Gardening  for  Elementary  Schools  in  Oregon. 
Hampton  Leaflets,  Vol.  VIII,  No.  i.    Hampton  Normal  and  Agri- 
cultural Institute,  Hampton,  Virginia.     Home  Decoration. 
Alger,  Edith  Goodyear.     Vermont  Department  of  Education  (Mont- 

pelier),  Circular  No.  XIII,  1902.     School  Gardens. 
Writ    to 

Ontario  Agricultural  College,  Guelph,  Canada,  for  instruction  sheets. 
Schoo    Garden  Association  of  America,  4852  Broadway,  New  York, 

for  publications. 

Children's  Flower  Mission,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  for  penny  packets  of  seeds. 
Home  Gardening  Association,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  for  report. 
The  National  Cash  Register  Company,  Dayton,  Ohio,  for  The  Boy 

Gardeners 
The  International  Harvester  Company,  Chicago,  Illinois,  for  Grow  a 

Garden  and  other  circulars. 


CHAPTER  X 
SPORE-BEARERS 

A  typical  spore-bearer — the  puffball. — There  is  a  group  of 
plants  that  does  not  reproduce  by  seeds.  While  the  seed-bearing 
plants  are  the  ones  that  are  most  familiar  to  us,  the  spore- 
bearing  plants  are  quite  as  important  in  our  lives  and  they  make 
a  far  more  numerous  group.  Probably  the  most  familiar  spore- 
bearer  with  which  the  average  child  is  acquainted  is  the  common 
puffball,  that  brownish  sphere  found  growing  in  the  meadows,  or 
perhaps  on  an  old  stump,  from  which  the  child  squeezes  succes- 
sive puffs  of  "smoke."  Many  children  regard  these  as  rotten 
potatoes,  and  have,  moreover,  the  frightsome  delusion  that  if 
the  "  smoke  "  gets  into  their  eyes  it  will  make  them  blind.  Many 
a  small  boy  has  run  in  terror  from  a  larger  companion  who 
possessed  one  of  these  terrifying  objects  and  made  threats  to  use 
it  on  the  youngster.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  "smoke"  is  quite 
harmless,  consisting  merely  of  countless  little  particles,  really 
hard-walled  cells,  each  of  which  is  a  spore.  These  spores, 
alighting  on  moist  ground  where  conditions  are  favorable,  will 
proceed  to  grow  and  form  new  plants  (Fig.  304). 

Spore  cases  of  fern. — Many  children,  too,  are  familiar  with 
the  spore  cases  that  are  to  be  found  on  the  backs  of  fern  leaves 
(Fig.  305).  They  frequently  grow  in  clusters,  which  form 
brownish  dots  on  the  back  of  the  leaf.  The  spores  discharged 
from  these  are  about  as  tiny  as  those  from  the  puffball,  and 
usually  escape  detection  unless  the  fern  leaves  are  laid,  spore- 
bearing  surface  down,  on  a  sheet  of  white  paper.  Then  when 
the  spores  fall  they  may  be  seen  as  fine  dust  on  the  paper. 

The  entire  fungus. — The  puffball,  as  we  collect  it,  is  not  all 
of  the  plant;  in  fact  it  is  only  a  small  portion  of  it,  somewhat  as 
a  seed  pod  is  only  a  small  portion  of  a  seed-bearing  plant.  The 

45° 


SPORE-BEARERS 


451 


bulk  of  the  plant  is  growing  somewhere  in  the  ground  and  the 
puffball  is  only  that  part  of  the  plant  which  comes  to  the  surface 
to  bear  the  spores. 

The  pujfball  is  one  of  a  great  group  of  plants  known  as  fungi. 
They  often  grow  in  decomposing  material,  like  a  rotting  log,  a 
manure  heap,  dead  leaves,  etc.  Probably  every  child,  in  his 
experience,  has  encountered  the  body  of  the  fungus.  If  you  rip 
the  bark  off  a  decomposing  log  you  will  often  see  white,  cottony 


FIG.  304. — A  protected  puffball  Geaster  on  the  sand 

masses  of  interlaced  delicate  threads,  which  frequently  can  be 
traced  into  the  tissue  of  the  rotting  log.  Sometimes  similar 
cobwebby  material  is  found  in  the  rotting  leaves  in  the  spring, 
or  is  observed  in  the  manure  heap  as  it  is  forked  over.  This  is 
the  true  mass  of  the  fungus  plant,  the  mycelium,  as  it  is  called. 
Each  of  the  delicate  threads  that  together  make  up  the  mycelium 
is  known  as  a  hypha. 

The  germinating  spore. — When  the  spores  of  the  puffball,  for 
instance,  drifting  on  the  air  currents,  alight  on  some  spot  of 
ground  beneath  the  surface  of  which  there  is  some  decaying 


452       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


material  upon  which  the  fungus  can  feed,  the  spores  germinate 
and  each  grows  into  one  of  these  hyphal  threads.  The  mycelium 
is  probably  the  result  of  the  germination  of  many  spores.  In 
due  course  of  time  this  colorless  mycelium,  feeding  on  the  decay- 
ing material,  sends  up  some  of  these  hyphae  toward  the  surface 

of  the  ground.  Joining  together,  they 
grow  into  a  tiny  puffball,  which  at  first 
appears  as  only  a  little  white  button, 
but  grows  larger  as  the  hyphae  become 
more  numerous  and  more  extended. 
Finally  the  inside  of  the  puffball  pro- 
duces the  multitudinous  spores,  and 
when  the  outer  rind  of  the  puffball 
breaks,  these  spores  are  gradually  dis- 
charged. The  mycelium  found  growing 
in  the  manure  heap  may  be  that  of  an- 
other common  fungus,  called  the  inkpot. 
That  found  in  the  old  log  is  perhaps  the 
mycelium  of  the  bracket  fungus.  The 
spores  of  all  these  forms,  of  course,  must 
find  situations  similar  to  the  habitat  of 
the  original  plant  in  order  that  they 
may  grow. 

Molds. — Perhaps  the  most  familiar 
of  the  fungi  about  the  house  are  the 
molds  and  mildews  that  persist  in  grow- 
ing in  our  preserves,  that  form  mildewy 
masses  on  the  decaying  apples,  or  in 
moist  climates  even  invade  our  clothes 

closets  and  grow  on  our  boots  and  shoes.  Some  interesting  ex- 
periments may  be  made  with  these  molds  that  will  teach  us  much 
about  the  nature  of  the  fungi.  Put  a  spoonful  of  some  trans- 
parent jelly,  like  crab  apple,  on  a  little  plate  and  let  this  stand 
uncovered  for  a  day  on  the  table  at  home  or  on  your  desk  in  the 
schoolroom.  Then  cover  it  with  a  tumbler.  Pretty  soon  on  the 


FIG.  305.— A  fern  frond  of 
rock  polypody  to  show  clus- 
ters of  spore  cases. 


SPORE-BEARERS  453 

surface  of  the  jelly  a  growth  of  cottony  mold  will  begin  to  show. 
The  advantage  of  using  the  transparent  jelly  is  that  you  can  see 
that  not  only  is  the  mold  growing  on  the  surface,  but  very  fine 
hyphae  are  growing  down  into  the  jelly.  This  mold  is  a  colorless 
plant.  It  does  not  possess  the  chlorophyll  which  we  know  is  so 
essential  in  the  manufacture  of  plant  foods  for  the  ordinary  green 
plant.  It  must  therefore  obtain  its  food  ready-made,  and  these 


FIG.  306. — A  black  mold 

hyphal   threads  are  penetrating  the  jelly  for  the  purpose  of 
absorbing  nutrition     They  are  the  feeding  hyphae. 

Spore-bearing  hyphae. — Before  very  long  some  of  the  hyphae 
that  are  growing  into  the  air  will  develop  little  spore  cases  at 
their  ends  (Fig  306).  One  of  the  commonest  molds  about  the 
house,  the  Mucor,  grows  little  black  spore  cases  on  the  ends  of 
the  spore-bearing  hyphae  so  that  the  white  mold  comes  to  be 
covered  with  tiny  black  dots,  as  if  it  had  been  dusted  with  pepper. 
It  is  always  difficult  to  see  the  spores  unless  a  microscope  is 


454       SOURCE  BOOK  OP  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

available.  Then  if  some  of  the  hyphae  bearing  the  spore  cases 
are  put  into  a  drop  of  water  on  a  piece  of  glass  and  the  drop  is 
examined  under  the  low  power  of  the  microscope,  the  spores  will 
be  seen  as  tiny  rounded  cells.  We  may  examine  the  plant  dry, 
but  in  that  case  the  majority  of  the  spores  will  blow  off  before 
we  can  get  them  under  the  microscope. 

Molds  in  light. — Instead  of  the  jelly  use  pieces  of  bread. 
Moisten  the  bread — do  not  saturate  it — and  then  put  it  into  pint 
fruit  jars.  Screw  the  covers  on  the  jars  and  place  some  of  the 
jars  on  the  window  sill  in  the  sunlight,  others  on  the  table  where 
they  are  in  ordinary  light,  and  place  still  ethers  in  the  r'ark  corner 
or  even  in  a  drawer  or  cupboard.  In  due  course  of  time  molds 
will  develop  on  the  bread.  It  is  interesting  to  note*whether  the 
exposure  to  the  light  makes  any  difference  in  the  time  of  appear- 
ance of  the  mold  or  in  its  rate  of  growth.  In  all  probability 
several  different  kinds  of  mold  will  develop,  for  the  bread  in  the 
several  jars  has  come  from  different  localities,  and  very  likely  the 
spores  which  it  contains  will  not  all  be  the  same.  A  very  common 
mold  is  the  green  mold  (Pencillium),  the  spores  of  which  occur  in 
clusters  on  the  ends  of  the  branches  rather  than  in  spore  cases  and 
are  green. 

Bacteria. — In  addition  to  the  cottony  masses  of  mold,  slimy 
masses  of  varying  color  will  probably  be  found,  some  light  and 
transparent  like  jelly,  others  red  and  yellow.  These  are  probably 
colonies  of  bacteria.  The  bacteria  also  are  fungi  and  will  be 
considered  later. 

Making  the  soil  for  growing  molds. — We  may  readily  make 
our  own  garden  or  culture  media  for  growing  these  samples  of 
mold  and  of  bacteria.  This  is  very  simply  done  by  melting 
up,  according  to  directions,  some  of  the  gelatin  prepared  for 
puddings.  Orange  or  grape  gelatins  are  very  satisfactory.  If 
these  are  not  available  we  may  make  up  a  prune  gelatin  as 
follows:  Take  two  ounces  of  the  gelatin  that  you  buy  at  any 
grocery  store  and  add  to  it  about  half  its  own  volume  of  water. 
Let  it  soak  for  an  hour  or  more.  In  another  dish  put  to  soak  a 


SPORE-BEARERS  455 

dozen  prunes,  just  covering  them  with  water.  After  they  have 
soaked  for  a  few  hours,  gently  boil  them.  Pour  off  the  clear 
liquid,  or  if  it  is  not  clear  pass  it  through  a  piece  of  cloth  and  add 
the  gelatin  The  gelatin  and  the  liquid  from  the  prunes  should 
make  nearly  a  pint.  If  it  does  not,  add  hot  water  to  make  about 
four-fifths  of  a  pint.  Now  heat  the  gelatin  and  prune  juice 
in  a  double  boiler  until  the  gelatin  has  all  dissolved.  If  a 
double  boiler  fe  not  at  hand,  set  a  pan  that  will  hold  a  pint  or 
more  in  another  larger  pan  that  contains  hot  water  and  place  on 
the  stove.  The  small  pan  should  be  kept  off  the  bottom  of  the 
large  pan  by  setting  it  on  any  convenient  object,  such  as  a  piece 
of  wire  or  the  handles  of  two  or  three  spoons.  After  the  gelatin 
has  dissolved,  the  water  in  the  large  pan  must  be  kept  boiling 
for  about  half  an  hour  and  the  small  pan  must  be  kept  covered. 
The  results  are  sure  to  be  satisfactory  if,  instead  of  using  the 
small  pan,  one  can  use  a  thin- walled  flask,  such  as  can  readily  be 
obtained  from  the  high-school  chemical  laboratory.  The  mouth 
of  the  flask  should  be  kept  loosely  plugged  with  absorbent  cotton 
while  the  boiling  is  going  on.  When  once  the  gelatin  has  been 
sterilized  by  boiling  it  must  be  kept  covered  from  the  air  or 
again  sterilized  before  it  is  used. 

Preparing  the  spore  beds. — This  makes  up  a  stock  solution 
of  gelatin.  The  most  convenient  culture  tubes  are  ordinary  test 
tubes.  The  little  homeopathic  bottles  that  can  be  purchased  at 
a  drug-store  may  also  be  used.  Wash  these  clean  in  hot  water, 
then  pour  the  gelatin  preparation  in,  filling  each  bottle  or  test 
tube  one-fourth  full.  Plug  the  mouth  of  the  bottle  or  test  tube 
with  a  wad  of  absorbent  cotton  and  lay  it  down  with  the  mouth 
end  raised  half  an  inch  or  an  inch  from  the  table,  so  that  as  the 
gelatin  cools  it  will  form  a  solid  mass  with  large  slanting  surface. 
When  the  gelatin  has  set,  these  may  be  used  in  place  of  the 
transparent  jelly  or  the  bread  in  the  experiment  suggested  above. 

Sterilization  by  dry  heat. — We  may  readily  perform  an 
experiment  that  will  demonstrate  what  is  meant  by  sterilization. 
We  have  found  that  an  abundance  of  mold  grows  on  the  bread  in 


456       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

our  pint  fruit  jars.  Cut  some  slices  of  bread  that  are  a  half-inch 
thick  into  little  strips  and  fit  them  into  the  test  tubes  or  small 
bottles.  Plug  the  mouth  of  the  test  tubes  or  bottles  with 
absorbent  cotton  and  put  these  into  an  oven.  Keep  the  oven  at 
a  temperature  that  will  make  an  ordinary  sheet  of  white  paper 
yellow  in  half  a  minute.  Leave  the  bottles  containing  the  bread 
in  this  temperature  for  a  half -hour;  then  let  them  cool  off  gradu- 
ally in  the  oven,  or,  if  you  are  using  test  tubes,  they  may  be 
taken  from  the  oven  immediately  at  the  end  of  the  half-hour. 
Next  moisten  the  bread  with  boiled  water,  putting  the  water 
on  with  a  medicine  dropper  that  has  also  been  boiled  for  ten 
minutes.  Expose  the  bread  to  the  air  just  as  little  as  possible 
when  putting  on  the  water.  Let  this  bread  in  the  test  tubes  or 
bottles  stand  in  the  room  for  several  days.  Probably  molds  will 
not  appear  in  most  of  the  bottles. 

Steam  sterilization. — Molds  should  not  appear  in  the  tubes 
of  jelly  which  we  have  prepared  above,  but  sometimes  it  is 
necessary  to  sterilize  the  jelly  in  the  tubes  a  second  time  before 
we  kill  all  of  the  spores  that  are  present.  We  may  do  this  in 
another  way  which  will  illustrate  a  second  method,  sterilization 
by  the  use  of  steam.  Take  two  pails,  like  lard  pails,  one  of  which 
will  slip  only  two-thirds  of  the  way  into  the  other.  Punch 
several  holes  in  the  bottom  of  the  upper  pail  and  two  or  three  in 
its  cover.  Put  two  inches  of  water  in  the  lower  pail  and  set  the 
upper  pail  in  it.  Stand  the  vials  or  low  jelly  tumblers  containing 
the  gelatin  in  this  upper  pail  and  cover  it.  Put  the  apparatus 
on  the  stove  and  bring  the  water  to  a  boil.  Steam  will  pass 
through  the  upper  pail,  and  after  the  gelatin  has  melted,  twenty 
minutes  of  such  steaming  will  serve  to  sterilize  it. 

Spores  survive  heat. — That  more  than  one  such  exposure  is 
necessary  for  complete  sterilization  is  well  known  to  the  house- 
keeper who  preserves  her  fruit  by  the  process  of  sterilization. 
Fruit  cans  are  thoroughly  cleansed  and  rinsed  out  with  boiling 
water.  The  fruit  in  its  syrup  is  thoroughly  heated  for  a  con- 
siderable time,  and  then  it  is  put  with  the  syrup  into  the  can  and 


SPORE-BEARERS  457 

sealed.  The  housewife  does  not  put  this  away  at  once,  however, 
but  stands  it  on  a  table  in  her  fruit  cellar  and  after  a  few  days 
inspects  it.  If  any  of  the  cans  show  signs  of  fermentation  by 
leaking  somewhat,  the  cans  are  put  into  a  double  boiler  and 
steamed  for  an  hour  or  so  to  again  raise  their  content  to  the 
temperature  of  boiling  water.  While  the  molds  or  living  bacteria 
are  killed  at  the  temperature  of  boiling  water,  their  spores  are 
frequently  much  more  resistant.  These,  however,  promptly 
germinate  in  warm  solutions,  and  the  second  boiling  will  kill 
such  germinated  spores.  We  may  be  practically  certain  that 
three  heatings  to  the  boiling-point  on  successive  days  will  com- 
plete sterilization  in  all  substances. 

The  yeast. — One  of  the  tiny  fungi  that  is  of  large  commercial 
importance  is  the  yeast  plant.  Like  many  tiny  organisms,  it 
may  retain  its  vitality  after  fairly  complete  drying,  and  all  that 
is  necessary  to  start  up  its  usual  activities  is  to  give  it  sufficient 
water,  when  the  cells  absorb  the  moisture  and  resume  their 
growth  and  multiplication.  Often  the  yeast  is  bought  as  com- 
pressed yeast,  in  which  the  plants  are  massed  together  with  more 
or  less  of  the  starch  in  which  they  were  grown  and  with  the  water 
partly  removed  by  pressure. 

Growing  yeast. — Dissolve  a  tablespoonful  of  ordinary  sugar 
in  a  half-tumbler  of  water.  Rub  up  in  a  little  water  a  piece  of 
yeast  as  big  as  a  pea  and  add  it  to  the  solution.  Let  this  stand, 
covered,  at  room  temperature.  The  sugar  is  absorbed  by  the 
yeast  plants  and  is  partially  used  in  their  growth.  Alcohol  is 
formed  in  this  process,  and  after  the  yeast  has  worked  for  some 
time  the  odor  of  alcohol  is  quite  apparent.  The  sugar  solution 
will  be  frothy  with  bubbles  of  carbon  dioxide.  Put  some  of  such 
sugar  solution  and  yeast  into  a  wide-mouthed  bottle.  Pass  a 
delivery  tube  of  bent  glass  tubing  through  the  cork  and  stick 
the  other  end  into  a  test  tube  half  full  of  limewater.  As  the 
yeast  plants  grow,  the  gas  formed  will  be  passed  into  the  lime- 
water.  What  is  the  reaction  that  demonstrates  that  this  gas 
is  carbon  dioxide?  When  the  yeast  "works"  for  several  days, 


458       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

alcohol  changes  to  acid  and  the  solution  sours.     You  can  tell 
this  also  by  the  odor. 

Yeast  for  bread  making. — When  yeast  is  used  to  make  bread 
rise  it  uses  as  food  the  starch  which  the  flour  contains.  The 
mixture  of  flour  and  water  is  sticky,  so  that  the  carbon-dioxide 
gas  cannot  readily  escape.  In  its  effort  to  do  so  the  bubbles 
of  gas  permeate  the  dough  and  make  it  rise.  When  the  bread  is 
kneaded  the  bubbles  of  gas  are  subdivided  and  resubdivided  and 
so  distributed  throughout  the  mass  as  to  make  the  bread  uni- 
formly light.  If  the  bread  is  not  well  kneaded 
it  is  likely  to  be  soggy  in  spots  and  unduly 
porous  elsewhere. 

Appearance  of  yeast  plant. — If  a  micro- 
scope is  available,  a  drop  of  the  sugar  solution 
taken  from  time  to  time  out  of  the  tumbler  in 
which  the  yeast  is  working  may  be  examined. 
The  yeast  plants  are  seen  as  tiny  egg-shaped 
objects,  or  as  chains  of  such  (see  Fig.  307). 
Each  plant  is  a  cell,  a  tiny  mass  of  living 
FIG.  307.— Yeast  protoplasm  surrounded,  in  this  plant,  by  a 

plant  seen  under  the  n         n       mi       i  i  '     , 

microscope.  ceii  wa^-  rne  denser  nucleus  may  be  seen  if 

a  little  stain,  such  as  neutral  red,  is  added 
to  the  drop.  If  a  single  good-sized  plant  is  kept  under  the 
microscope  for  some  time  it  will  be  seen  to  produce  a  small 
projecting  knob  or  bud  which  grows  and  becomes  like  the  parent. 
This  may  in  turn  bud,  and  thus  the  chains  of  plants  arise. 

Beer  yeast. — The  yeasts  used  in  the  production  of  beer  and 
other  fermented  liquors  are  different  ones  from  that  used  to  raise 
bread.  There  are  several  wild  species  of  yeasts  that  are  found 
in  various  fermenting  substances  out  of  doors.  Chopped 
carrots  left  standing  in  water  usually  ferment  sufficiently  inside 
of  forty-eight  hours  to  give  a  distinct  odor  of  alcohol. 

Bacteria. — There  follows,  however,  the  growth  of  another 
sort  of  tiny  plants  in  the  carrots — a  sort  which  work  so  rapidly 
and  multiply  so  fast  that  before  long  the  yeast  fermentation  is 


SPORE-BEARERS  459 

obscured  by  the  decomposition  due  to  the  action  of  these  other 
plants.  These  are  bacteria.  They  are  much  smaller  than 
yeast  plants.  Indeed,  ten  thousand  of  the  bacteria  that  cause 
pneumonia  might  be  spread  in  a  layer  one  bacterium  thick  on  the 
cross-section  of  a  hair.  Individually  they  are  too  small  to  be 
seen,  but  the  colonies  that  appear  in  a  culture  can  be  seen,  a£ 
has  been  noted  above  on  the  bread  used  for  growing  the  mold. 
It  does  not  take  very  long  for  a  colony  to  form  from  a  single 
bacterium.  These  tiny  fungi  reproduce  usually  by  division; 
that  is,  one  simply  separates  into  two  parts,  each  of  which 
speedily  becomes  an  adult  bacterium  like  the  parent  form.  So, 
in  culture  media,  spots  appear  that  are  masses  of  bacteria  which 
are  all  alike.  It  has  been  estimated  that  a  single  bacterium 
growing  under  favorable  conditions  would,  if  none  of  its  offspring 
died,  produce  a  mass  of  bacteria  as  large  as  the  earth  in  the  course 
of  a  single  week.  Fortunately  many  die  because  conditions  do 
not  remain  favorable,  or  they  are  used  as  food  by  some  of  the 
larger  organisms. 

Cultures  of  bacteria. — The  .  same  gelatin  preparation  sug- 
gested above  for  the  growth  of  molds  may  be  used  for  bacterial 
cultures.  This  may  be  put  into  sterile  test  tubes  or  wide- 
mouthed  bottles,  low  jelly  dishes  with  covers  (Fig.  308),  or  any 
convenient  sterile  receptacles  that  can  be  covered,  or  plugged 
with  absorbent  cotton.  Lay  the  test  tubes  or  vials  on  a  table 
with  the  mouth  raised  a  little  when  the  gelatin  is  cooling,  so  that 
it  will  harden  with  a  slanting  surface.  For  very  careful  work  the 
gelatin  should  be  sterilized  by  two  or  three  heatings  for  twenty 
minutes  in  the  steam  sterilizer  and  then  cooled.  But  for  our 
purposes,  if  all  dishes  used  in  the  preparation  and  if  the  recep- 
tacles also  have  been  sterilized,  the  gelatin  as  prepared  will  be 
sufficiently  free  from  living  bacteria. 

The  house  fly  carries  bacteria. — Catch  a  house  fly,  put  him 
in  one  of  the  dishes  or  test  tubes  (slant  tubes),  let  him  crawl  over 
the  gelatin,  and  then  let  him  out.  Keep  the  dish  or  tube  at 
room  temperature.  In  two  days  his  footsteps  will  be  indicated 


460       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

by  patches  of  bacteria  growing  wherever  he  stepped.  The  fly's 
foot  is  admirably  adapted,  as  are  other  parts  of  his  body,  for 
carrying  bacteria.  These  parts  are  hairy,  and  the  bacteria 
readily  stick  to  these  hairs.  Moreover,  the  fly  often  feeds  and 
always  breeds  in  decomposing  organic  material,  such  as  manure 
heaps,  where  bacteria  are  abundant.  When  they  come  to  our 
kitchens  or  dining-rooms,  where  food  is  being  prepared  or  served, 


FIG.  308. — Bacterial  colonies  on  gelatin  in  petri  dish 

they  not  infrequently  wipe  their  filthy  feet  on  the  articles  of 
food  we  are  about  to  eat. 

Bacteria  in  air. — Open  one  of  the  jelly  glasses  in  the  school- 
room near  the  close  of  the  session  and  set  it  where  the  dust  may 
settle  into  it.  Cover  it  again  and  examine  a  few  days  later.  At 
the  same  time  that  this  dish  (or  tube)  is  exposed,  expose  one  for 
the  same  length  of  time  out  of  doors.  Compare  the  two  at  the 
end  of  two  or  three  days.  Which  has  the  larger  number  of 
bacterial  colonies  growing  on  it?  Each  colony  represents  a 
bacterium  that  settled  on  the  gelatin  and  began  multiplying. 


SPORE-BEARERS  461 

Other  sources  of  bacteria. — Let  a  child  whose  hands  are  dirty 
touch  the  gelatin  in  one  of  the  glasses  with  his  fingers.  Then 
have  him  wash  his  hands  and  after  they  are  dry  let  him  touch  the 
gelatin  in  another  jelly  tumbler.  Let  the  two  tumblers  stand 
side  by  side  for  a  few  days  and  compare  results.  Let  some  child 
with  a  cold  breathe  on  the  gelatin  in  one  of  the  dishes.  Have 
some  child  free  from  cold  breathe  on  the  gelatin  of  another  dish. 
Let  these  glasses  stand  side  by  side  for  comparison.  You  may 
swab  the  teeth  of  a  child  with  a  wad  of  absorbent  cotton  on  the 
end  of  a  stick  and  wipe  this  on  the  gelatin.  If  you  compare  in 
this  way  a  child  who  habitually  cleans  his  teeth  with  one  who 
"  forgot "  it,  the  results  in  the  two  dishes  or  tubes  will  likely  prove 
interesting. 

Bacteria  in  dust. — Scrape  some  of  the  dust  from  window 
sills,  unused  desks,  tops  of  doors,  or  other  undisturbed  places 
about  the  room  into  a  sterilized  test  tube  and  shake  it  up  witn 
water.  Pour  half  of  it  into  another  sterilized  test  tube.  With 
a  sterilized  pipette  put  three  or  four  drops  of  water  from  the  first 
test  tube  on  some  gelatin  and  cover  the  gelatin  dish  or  tube  at 
once.  Put  a  drop  of  glycothymoline,  euthymol,  creolin,  or  other 
good  disinfectant  into  the  second  sterilized  test  tube.  Shake  it 
well  and  let  it  stand  three  minutes.  Then  put  three  or  four  drops 
from  this  tube  upon  the  gelatin  in  another  tube,  using  a  second 
sterilized  pipette  for  the  purpose.  This  should  demonstrate 
not  only  that  there  are  numerous  bacteria  in  the  dust  of  the 
schoolroom  but  that  these  are  killed  readily  by  simple  disin- 
fectants. The  schoolroom  should  be  swept  up  daily,  after  some 
disinfectant  has  been  sprinkled  on  the  floor.  Many  schools 
supply  the  janitor  with  a  sweeping  powder  to  be  scattered  before 
sweeping.  This  powder  is  itself  a  disinfectant.  Sawdust  soaked 
in  water,  to  each  gallon  of  which  four  tablespoonfuls  of  creolin 
have  been  added,  may  be  used. 

Sanitary  school  furniture. — It  would  be  very  much  worth 
while  to  keep  some  cloths  in  a  five-gallon  crock  of  the  same 
solution,  and  to  have  all  desks,  window  sills,  blackboard  ledges, 


462       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

globes,  in  fact  all  furniture,  wiped  off  daily  with  this  sterilizing 
substance.  If  janitor  service  cannot  be  obtained  for  this 
purpose,  the  children  themselves  will  gladly  do  the  work  in  the 
interest  of  their  own  health.  Two  pupils  could  be  assigned  the 
task  for  one  week  who  would  come  each  morning  ten  or  fifteen 
minutes  before  school  to  act  as  sanitary  officers.  In  schools 
where  such  service  has  been  instituted  the  number  of  cases  of 
contagious  disease  has  been  greatly  reduced,  and  the  average 
attendance  has  been  raised  nearly  to  the  100  per  cent  mark. 
Moreover,  the  custom  has  spread  from  the  school  to  the  home, 
where  dusting  is  displaced  by  wiping  furniture  and  floors  with  a 
cloth  moistened  in  some  disinfectant. 

Man's  conquest  of  disease. — In  connection  with  this  work 
on  the  bacteria  pupils  of  the  upper  grades  should  come  to  know 
something  of  the  history  of  man's  conquest  of  those  terrible  germ 
diseases  that  have  always  been  the  world's  scourges.  No  better 
opportunity  than  this  will  come  for  bringing  them  in  contact 
with  high  courage  and  inspiring  devotion.  It  is  a  fine  chance  to 
inculcate  some  moral  ideals  by  learning  of  the  noble  men  who 
have  given  themselves  to  the  task  of  conquering  disease.  The 
enthusiasm  of  these  men  is  contagious,  even  at  long  range;  and 
it  is  a  splendid  thing  to  know  of  them.  The  best  method  of 
procedure  is  to  ask  some  of  the  older  children  to  look  up  the  data 
in  the  bibliography  suggested  and  to  report  to  the  school. 

Koch  and  Pasteur. — The  discovery  that  many  diseases  are 
caused  by  bacteria  is  well  within  the  memory  of  men  now  living. 
The  credit  for  the  early  demonstrations  belongs  to  Robert  Koch 
and  Louis  Pasteur.  Not  only  did  they  show  that  certain  diseases 
of  animals  and  man  are  to  be  traced  to  the  activity  of  these  tiny 
organisms  working  in  our  bodies,  but  they  showed,  after  long  and 
arduous  labor,  how  the  effects  of  the  disease-producing  bacteria 
might  be  counteracted.  Since  their  time  many  more  diseases 
have  been  traced  to  specific  bacteria.  Bacteria  are  divided, 
according  to  their  form,  into  the  round,  or  coccus,  forms,  like 
the  coccus  that  causes  pneumonia  (pneumococcus) ;  the  rod- 


SPORE-BEARERS  463 

shaped  ones,  or  bacilli,  like  the  bacillus  of  tuberculosis;  and  the 
corkscrew-shaped  ones,  or  the  spirillum  forms,  like  the  spirillum 
of  Asiatic  cholera.  There  are  other  shapes,  too,  but  these  are 
some  of  the  most  distinctive  sorts. 

Pasteur's  work.— Pasteur  was  the  first  to  demonstrate  that 
fermentation,  such  as  we  have  seen  occurring  when  yeast  works, 
is  due  to  living  things.  He  had  to  make  his  experimental  proof 
very  convincing,  for  some  of  the  greatest  scientists  of  his  day— 
the  older  men  like  Helmholtz  and  Liebig — did  not  believe  in 
Pasteur's  notion  of  the  cause  of  fermentation.  Then  he  under- 
took to  find  out  why  wines  sometimes  spoil  in  aging.  He  found 
that  there  were  tiny  organisms  (really  bacteria)  that  worked  in 
the  wine  and  produced  disagreeable-tasting  products.  He 
discovered  that  this  could  be  prevented  if  the  wine  were  heated 
and  kept  hot  for  a  long  enough  time  to  kill  these  organisms. 
This  did  not  take  so  very  long — some  twenty  minutes.  The 
temperature  did  not  have  to  be  as  high  as  the  boiling-point,  but 
only  i7o°F.  This  treatment  has  since  been  found  to  kill  many 
dangerous  bacteria.  Thus  if  milk  be  so  heated  all  tubercle 
bacilli,  typhoid  germs,  and  the  germs  that  cause  dysentery  are 
killed.  The  process  is  known  as  pasteurization. 

Silkworm  disease. — Next,  Pasteur  solved  the  mystery  of  the 
silkworm  diseases  that  were  annually  causing  immense  losses  to 
France.  This  was  a  very  difficult  task  and  required  more  than 
three  years  of  constant  observation  and  experiment,  with  the 
assistance  of  able  men.  When  finally  he  announced  his  discovery 
of  the  cause  and  the  methods  of  prevention,  his  claims  met  with 
severe  criticism.  Pasteur  worked  hard  to  maintain  his  ground. 
He  had  always  been  a  hard  worker.  First  of  all  the  staff  to 
arrive  at  the  laboratory  in  the  morning — which,  by  the  way,  was 
only  a  few  steps  from  his  home,  so  that  he  might  not  lose  valuable 
time  in  coming  and  going — he  worked  steadily  all  day,  making 
observations,  taking  notes,  performing  experiments.  He  allowed 
meager  time  for  meals.  At  night  he  usually  worked  until  late, 
writing  many  letters  and  preparing  his  scientific  papers.  It  was 


464       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

in  the  midst  of  his  efforts  to  prove  conclusively  to  the  world  the 
accuracy  of  his  discovery  that  he  was  stricken  with  paralysis, 
and  friends  despaired  of  his  life.  He  finally  partially  recovered, 
but  he  never  walked  without  discomfort  afterward,  and  his  hands 
were  so  crippled  that  he  had  to  give  over  to  his  assistants  the 
execution  of  the  experiments  that  he  planned.  Yet  even  after 
this  he  made  his  most  wonderful  discoveries  and  continued  to 
work  with  unabated  enthusiasm  for  twenty-five  years. 

Anthrax. — Another  source  of  loss  to  France  was  anthrax,  a 
disease  so  deadly  to  sheep  and  cattle  that  it  killed  off  about 
10  per  cent  of  all  the  sheep  and  5  per  cent  of  all  the  cattle  each 
year.  Davaine  had  discovered  the  threadlike  bacilli  in  the  blood 
of  animals  dying  from  the  disease.  Robert  Koch,  the  famous 
German  bacteriologist,  then  a  rising  tutor,  had  made  cultures 
of  them.  Klebs  had  shown  that  when  a  well-fed  animal  was 
inoculated  with  the  culture,  it  came  down  with  the  disease. 
Pasteur  reared  generation  after  generation  of  the  organisms  and 
showed  that  the  disease  was  produced  in  an  animal  quite  as 
readily  by  the  bacilli  reared  outside  of  the  body  in  artificial 
culture  media  as  by  those  from  the  blood  of  an  animal  suffering 
from  the  disease. 

Pasteur  discovered  vaccines. — Then  came  an  epoch-making 
discovery,  the  discovery  of  vaccines.  Pasteur  found  that  cul- 
tures of  anthrax  kept  growing  at  relatively  high  temperatures 
produced  less  and  less  virulent  bacteria,  and  that  if  an  animal 
were  injected  with  these  less  virulent  forms  and  then  were 
gradually  accustomed  to  more  virulent  ones,  it  would  suffer  no 
evil  effects  when  exposed  to  the  most  virulent  ones.  Thus 
healthy  animals  could  be  rendered  immune  to  the  dread  disease. 

Rabies. — Finally — to  omit  many  important  discoveries — 
came  the  application  of  all  his  accumulated  wisdom  to  the  cure 
of  some  human  disease.  As  a  promising  one  to  work  at  he 
chose  hydrophobia,  or  rabies.  This  task  he  began  in  1880,  being 
then  a  man  of  fifty-eight.  It  was  not  until  1885  that  he  con- 
sidered his  experiments  sufficiently  successful  and  the  results  so 


SPORE-BEARERS  465 

certain  that  he  was  ready  to  undertake  his  first  human  patient, 
Joseph  Meister,  an  Alsatian  lad.  Imagine  with  what  intense 
interest  Pasteur  watched  the  successive  inoculations  of  the 
cultures  of  stronger  and  stronger  germs.  His  assistant  tells  us 
that  as  the  limit  of  time  approached  when  the  patient,  some 
thirty  days  after  being  bitten,  usually  manifested  symptoms  of 
madness,  Pasteur  could  hardly  sleep  for  anxiety.  But  this  boy 
remained  healthy  and  was  the  first  of  thousands  of  patients  who 
have  escaped  the  awful  consequences  of  the  mad  dog's  bite 
through  Pasteur's  discovery. 

Fighting  disease  germs  in  America. — Americans  have  aided 
greatly  in  this  fight  of  mankind  against  disease,  and  we  may  well 
be  proud  of  the  record.  For  years  the  South,  particularly,  has 
been  subject  to  periodic  attacks  of  yellow  fever.  In  1853,  f°r 
instance,  New  Orleans  was  invaded  by  the  fever,  and  eight 
thousand  people  died.  Sixty  years  earlier  the  disease  reached 
as  far  north  as  Philadelphia  and  Boston.  The  former  city  lost 
10  per  cent  of  its  entire  population.  Havana,  Cuba,  has  always 
been  a  stronghold  of  the  disease,  and  has  been  the  center  from 
which  it  spread  to  our  own  coasts  through  Spanish  and  negro 
immigrants  and  refugees.  So,  when  the  Spanish  War  brought 
us  the  responsibility  of  Cuba,  one  of  our  first  tasks  was  to  make 
it  a  safe  country  in  which  to  live  by  routing  this  dread  disease,  as 
well  as  the  malaria,  a  disease  which,  while  not  so  fatal,  produces 
more  illness  that  detracts  from  irian's  efficiency  and  pleasure. 
Laveran,  one  of  Pasteur's  pupils,  had  discovered  the  microbe 
that  causes  malaria;  an  Englishman,  Sir  Ronald  Ross,  then 
Major  Ross,  had  proved  that  certain  mosquitoes  carry  the  germ 
and  act  as  an  intermediate  host  to  it. 

Yellow  fever. — Dr.  Carlos  Finlay,  a  Spanish  physician,  had 
suggested  that,  similarly,  a  mosquito  was  responsible  for  the 
spread  of  yellow  fever,  but  it  remained  for  Americans  to  prove  it. 
Dr.  Walter  Reed,  of  the  United  States  Army,  was  assigned  to 
the  presidency  of  a  board  for  studying  preventive  sanitary 
measures  in  Cuba.  Drs.  James  Carroll,  Jesse  W.  Lazear,  and 


466        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

A.  Agramonte  were  associated  with  him.  This  board  began  its 
work  in  1900.  At  that  time  it  was  thought  that  the  fever  was 
spread  through  contact  with  the  discharges  from  the  sufferer's 
body.  Volunteers  from  the  army  lived  in  rooms  and  slept  on 
the  filthy  beds  where  yellow-fever  victims  had  died — after  the 
precaution  had  been  taken  to  kill  all  the  mosquitoes  and  to  put 
in  screen  doors  and  windows  so  that  no  more  of  the  insects  could 
get  in.  But  these  men  did  not  take  the  fever.  They  took 
great  risks,  however,  for  none  knew  positively  that  the  mosquito 
was  the  cause.  Volunteers  were  then  called  for  who  would  let 
themselves  be  bitten  by  mosquitoes  that  had  already  bitten 
patients  in  the  yellow-fever  wards  of  the  hospital.  The  doctors 
themselves  insisted  on  taking  part  in  this  test,  and  both  Drs. 
Carroll  and  Lazear  came  down  with  the  disease,  as  did  nearly 
every  soldier.  These  men  lived  in  houses  screened  from  mos- 
quitoes, and  so  only  those  mosquitoes  caught  in  the  fever  wards 
bit  them.  Other  men  living  in  similar  screened  houses,  but  not 
bitten  by  mosquitoes  from  the  fever  wards,  did  not  get  the 
disease.  Dr.  Lazear  died  of  the  fever,  the  only  one  to  die  of  all 
those  brave  men  who  proffered  their  lives  to  save  their  fellows 
from  this  dreaded  scourge. 

Plant  diseases. — Not  only  do  the  spore-bearers  cause  many 
animal  as  well  as  human  diseases,  but  they  also  cause  many 
plant  diseases,  producing  untold  losses  in  our  crops.  The  smuts 
and  rusts  attack  grain,  fungi  of  various  sorts  invade  fruits  and 
vegetables,  producing  rot,  others  blight  leaves,  and  still  others 
attack  timber  and  make  it  decay.  Fortunately  men  are  also 
learning  how  to  prevent  the  invasion  of  plants  by  these  disease- 
producing  organisms.  While  disease  germs  gain  access  to 
animals  and  man  largely  by  means  of  food  or  the  air  and  so  make 
the"  attack  from  the  inside,  they  must  as  a  rule  alight  on  the 
outside  of  the  plant  and  break  down  its  protective  covering  or 
find  it  destroyed  by  a  wound  in  order  to  get  a  foothold.  They 
are  therefore  more  easily  accessible  in  the  early  stages  of  their 
growth  and  may  be  killed  by  spraying  the  plant  surfaces  with 


SPORE-BEARERS  467 

some  germicidal  wash.  Bordeaux  mixture  is  the  solution  most 
commonly  employed  for  this  purpose.  To  make  it,  put  one  ounce 
of  coarsely  ground  unslaked  lime  in  a  gallon  of  water  and  add 
an  ounce  of  powdered  copper  sulphate;  stir  it  thoroughly  until 
the  latter  is  all  dissolved,  when  it  is  strained  into  the  sprayer. 

The  larger  fungi. — There  are  many  interesting  larger  fungi 
to  be  found  growing  out  of  doors.  The  puffball,  which  we 
studied  at  the  beginning  of  the  chapter,  is  a  type  of  these.  The 
one  most  familiar  to  adults,  if  not  to  children,  is  probably  the 
edible  mushroom,  seen  commonly  in  the  stores.  It  is  usually 
grown  in  cellar  hotbeds.  It  is  found  in  meadows,  and  is  known 
as  the  meadow  mushroom  (Agaricus  campestris) .  Many  people 
call  this  the  mushroom,  and  call  all  the  rest  of  the  tribe  toadstools. 
Some  call  all  the  edible  species  mushrooms  and  the  poisonous 
ones  toadstools.  It  is  better,  however,  to  use  these  terms  inter- 
changeably, calling  any  of  these  forms  either  mushrooms  or 
toadstools,  and  designating  the  inedible  ones  as  poisonous 
mushrooms  or  poisonous  toadstools.  The  reason  for  this  is  that, 
in  some  cases,  one  species  may  be  poisonous  and  a  very  closely 
related  one  edible.  It  is  as  if  you  should  call  an  American  a  man, 
but  refuse  to  call  a  Chinaman  a  man.  However,  the  matter  is 
not  one  of  any  great  importance,  and  local  custom  may  well 
decide  our  usage  of  the  terms. 

The  common  edible  mushrooms. — We  may  study  the  com- 
mon edible  mushroom  as  a  type  (Fig.  309).  There  are  three 
distinct  parts:  (i)  the  foot,  (2)  the  stem,  (3)  the  cap,  or  umbrella- 
like  portion,  on  the  underside  of  which  are  the  thin  gills.  As  we 
have  already  understood,  the  entire  structure  that  we  call  the 
mushroom  is  really  the  spore-bearing  part  of  the  fungus,  the  body 
of  the  fungus,  the  mycelium,  being  in  the  decomposing  material 
that  is  underground  (Fig.  312).  The  spores  are,  in  this  species, 
borne  on  the  gills.  When  this  mushroom  first  appears  above  the 
ground  the  gills  are  bright  ribbon-pink,  but  later  they  become 
brown ;  there  is  a  noticeable  collar  surrounding  the  upper  part  of 
the  stem.  In  a  clump  of  these  mushrooms  you  will  nearly  always 


468       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

find  some  that  are  just  coming  out  of  the  ground  that  have  the 
pink  gills  and  others  in  which  the  gills  are  changing  to  brown. 

The  spores  are  brown,  and  it  is 
the  maturing  of  these  spores 
that  produces  the  change  in  the 
color.  None  of  the  other  pink- 
gilled  meadow  fungi  have  brown 
spores,  and  this  feature  is,  there- 
fore, quite  distinctive. 

Spore  prints. —  Cut  off  the 
stem  of  the  fungus  close  below 
the  cap.  Lay  the  cap,  gill  side 
down,  on  a  sheet  of  white  paper 
and  cover  it  with  a  tumbler.  In 
the  course  of  a  few  hours  the 
spores  will  have  discharged  from 
the  gills  upon  the  paper  and  will 
lie  in  delicate  radiating  lines  just 
under  the  gills.  If  in  place  of 
plain  paper  gummed  paper  is 
used,  the  spores  will  stick  to  its 
surface,  as  they  are  slightly  moist 
when  first  discharged.  By  the 
use  of  such  gummed  paper  one 
may  obtain  a  very  beautiful 
series  of  spore  prints  of  the  vari- 
ous fungi.  The  spores  of  unlike 
species  are  of  different  colors, 
so  that  one  may  have  prints 
ranging  from  pinks  and  reds  and 
yellows  to  blues  and  browns  and 
black. 

The  inky  caps. — One  of  the  common  mushrooms  with  black 
spores  is  the  inky  cap.  There  are  three  kinds  of  these  inky  caps 
which  we  may  eat,  and  there  are  several  other  kinds  that  are 


SPORE-BEARERS 


469 


common  in  manure  piles  which  we  ordinarily  do  not  eat.  The 
little  inky  caps  come  up  in  large  clusters  (Fig.  310).  The  top 
of  the  cap  is  shaded  with  reddish  brown,  and  looks  as  if  it  had 
been  sprinkled  with  snow  crystals,  for  there  are  so  many  little 
glistening  particles  upon  it.  There  are  tiny  grooves  running  up 
and  down  the  cap,  and  the  umbrella  is  seldom  wide  open.  These 
inky  caps  are  short-lived.  After  the  spores  mature  the  whole 
cap  collapses  and  comes  to  be  merely  a  gelatinous  mass,  contain- 
ing the  numerous  black  spores;  and  so  the  group  of  fungi  when 


FIG.  310. — The  little  inky-cap  fungus  (Kaufman) 

mature  looks  like  a  sticky  mass  of  ink.  This  glutinous  mass  is 
so  much  liked  by  the  flies  that  they  come  to  feed  upon  it,  and 
carry  away  to  other  localities  any  spores  that  stick  to  their  feet. 
The  large  inky  cap  is  four  to  six  inches  tall,  and  as  it  breaks 
through  the  ground  looks  like  an  elongated  egg,  except  that  its 
shell  is  not  smooth  but  shaggy  (Fig.  311).  The  fungus  is,  there- 
fore, often  called  the  shaggy-mane  mushroom.  In  the  early  stages 
the  gills  are  exquisite  shades  of  pink  and  purple.  One  must  cut 
the  egg  open  to  see  this,  however,  for  by  the  time  the  fungus  is 
sufficiently  expanded  to  show  the  gills  they  are  turning  black. 


470       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


The  plowed- ground  mushroom. — There  is  a  mushroom  that 
looks  very  much  like  the  meadow  mushroom  but  grows  ordi- 
narily in  the  plowed  fields.  The  gills  of  this,  mushroom  are 
not  as  bright  a  pink,  and  if  you  pinch  them  or  the  stem  or  the 
edge  of  the  cap  the  spot  turns  yellow.  This  is  also  one  of  the 
excellent  edible  mushrooms. 

Poisonous  sorts. — In  fact  we  are  not  likely  to  collect  any 
of  the  poisonous  sorts  in  the  fields  and  meadows.  They  grow 
chiefly  in  the  woods.  Nearly  all  of  the  species  that  grow  on 

decaying  woods,  old  rotting  logs, 
and  tree  stumps  are  also  edible. 
But  there  is  no  general  rule  by 
means  of  which  one  can  tell 
whether  a  mushroom  is  edible 
or  poisonous,  though  there  are 
some  tests  that  are  sometimes 
used.  It  is  said  that  if  a  silver 
coin  is  put  into  the  water  in 
which  the  mushroom  is  cooked 
the  poisonous  sorts  will  always 
turn  it  dark.  This  is,  however, 
not  infallible,  and  to  most  such 
rules  there  are  so  many  excep- 
tions that  they  are  unreliable. 
The  only  safe  way  is  to  know 
the  individual  mushrooms  and  to  use  only  those  that  have  been 
repeatedly  tried  and  found  safe. 

The  deadly  Amanita. — The  most  poisonous  of  all  the  mush- 
rooms is  the  deadly  Amanita,  or  death's  angel  (Fig.  313).  This  is 
a  beautiful  white  mushroom  with  white  gills.  There  is  a  ring  or 
collar  around  the  upper  part  of  the  stem;  and  by  digging  down 
to  the  base  of  the  stem  one  finds  that  it  seems  to  grow  out  of  a 
thimble-shaped  cup.  '  There  is  no  difficulty  in  telling  the  mature 
edible  sorts  from  this  poisonous  species.  The  mistake  is  likely 
to  be  made  in  taking  the  young  mushrooms  just  as  they  are 


FIG.   311. — The  large  inky -cap 
fungus  (Coprinus). 


SPORE-BEARERS 


471 


FIG.  312. — Mushrooms  springing  up  from  the  roots  of  a  cotton  wood  that  had 
been  cut  down. 


FIG.  313. — Deadly  Amanita. 
on  the  upper  part  of  the  stem. 


Note  the  swollen  base  of  the  stem  and  the  ring 


472        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

breaking  through  the  soil,  for  when  they  are  in  this  button  stage 
it  is  more  difficult  to  identify  them. 

Puf balls  are  edible;  also  oyster  shells. — The  puffballs,  which 
we  have  already  noted,  are  all  edible  when  they  are  in  the 
button  stage — in  fact,  until  the  inside  begins  to  turn  black.  In 
the  woods  one  may  find  the  giant  puffball  growing  as  large  as 
one's  head,  or  even  larger;  one  specimen  of  this  is  enough  for  a 
meal  for  a  good-sized  family.  Here  in  the  woods,  too,  one  will 


FIG.  314. — The  oyster-shell  fungus  growing  on  an  oak  stump 


likely  find  the  oyster-shell  fungus  which  grows  out  from  an  old 
tree  trunk,  like  a  soft  and  fleecy  shelf  (Fig.  314).  There  is 
practically  no  stem — a  very  short  one,  simply  to  attach  the  cap 
to  the  trunk — and  this  joins  the  cap,  not  on  the  underside,  but 
at  one  edge. 

The  morel. — In  the  early  spring  one  is  very  likely  to  find  in 
the  meadows  a  fungus  with  a  peculiar  cap  (Fig.  315).  It  is 
straw-colored,  or  even  darker,  and  is  conical  in  form,  with  its 
surface  honeycombed.  This  is  the  edible  morel.  The  spores 
are  discharged  from  the  entire  surface  instead  of  being  borne  on 
gills. 


SPORE-BEARERS 


473 


The  bracket  fungus. — In  one  group  of  the  fungi  the  spores  are 
to  be  found  lining  numerous  tiny  tubes  that  open  on  the  under- 
surface  through  tiny  pores.  Such  fungi  are  known  as  polypores. 
One  of  the  commonest  is  the  bracket  fungus  which  grows  on  old 
tree  stumps  (Fig.  316).  One  species  is  not  uncommonly  used 
by  artists,  for  on  the  creamy  undersurface  of  the  immature 
plants  sketches  may  be  made  with  an  ordinary  pen.  This  fungus 
is  gray  or  grayish  brown  above.  If  you  break  open  a  specimen 
of  the  Polyporus  the  numer- 
ous tiny  tubes  that  contain 
the  spores  can  readily  be  seen. 
The  spores  carried  by  the  wind 
or  by  insects  alight  on  some 
exposed  wood  undergoing  de- 
cay, as  in  a  wound  of  a  tree  or 
an  old  log,  and  start  the  new 
plant,  the  mycelium,  that 
grows  all  through  the  wood 
tissue.  Not  infrequently 
great  crops  of  mushrooms 
(not  polypores,  however) 
come  upon  the  lawn  where  a 
tree  has  been  cut  down,  the 
roots  being  left  below  ground 
to  decay  (see  Fig.  312,  p.  471). 
The  " fairy  rings''  are  such 
groups  of  fungi  that  spread  into  wider  circles  as  the  food 
material  at  the  center  is  exhausted  (Fig.  317). 

The  shaggy  and  cup  fungi. — In  some  fungi  the  spores,  instead 
of  being  contained  in  tubes,  are  borne  on  numerous  prolonga- 
tions of  the  undersurface,  which  give  it  a  shaggy  appearance 
(Fig.  318).  These  are  known  as  the  hydnum  forms.  In 
hunting  fungi  in  the  woods  one's  attention  will  surely  be 
called  to  some  cup-shaped  fungi  that  have  a  brilliant  lining 
of  red  or  yellow.  These  are  known  as  the  fairy  cups,  and  were 


FIG.  315. — The  edible  morel 


474       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


FIG.  316. — Bracket  fungi  on  maple  log 


FIG.  317. — The  fairy  ring  fungus.    As  the  organic  material  is  exhausted  by 
their  growth  the  ring  widens. 


SPORE-BEARERS 


475 


supposed  to  be  the  drinking  utensils  of  those  nymphs  that  inhabit 
the  woods. 

You  will  find,  in  hunting  fungi,  that  man  is  not  the  only 
animal  that  has  learned  their  edible  qualities.  Many  of  them 
are  the  homes  of  beetles  that  feed  upon  them.  Flies  infest  other 
species.  Slugs  and  snails  eat  many  other  kinds. 

Collecting  fungi. — We  have  suggested  the  recognition  marks 
of  only  a  few  of  the  very  common  sorts.  Consult  some  such 
book  as  Mcllvaine's  One  Thousand  American  Fungi  if  you  wish 
to  become  acquainted  with  the  numerous  sorts  that  may  be  found 
in  your  own  locality.  The  writer  has  collected  over  a  hundred 
species  in  a  single  day.  When 
collecting  them,  one  should 
carry  a  basket  or  botanical 
collecting  can  and  should  also 
have  a  number  of  sheets  of 
tissue  paper,  so  that  as  the 
specimens  are  found  they 
may  be  wrapped  carefully,  la- 
beled, and  packed  in  the  bas- 
ket or  collecting  can,  where 
they  will  not  get  bruised. 
Fungi  may  be  studied  in  the 
schoolroom;  and  the  record  of  the  different  species  found  may 
be  kept  by  making  descriptive  notes  about  them  and  by  water- 
color  sketches.  They  are  often  such  beautifully  colored  objects 
that  they  make  good  material  for  art  work. 

The  herbarium. — Since  fungi  are  soft-bodied  things  it  is 
difficult  in  many  cases  to  preserve  them.  Many  of  the  tougher 
kinds,  however,  lend  themselves  to  preservation  in  the  herbarium. 
If  the  specimens  are  laid  in  an  oven  and  kept  at  moderate  tem- 
perature (the  door  being  left  open) ,  they  will  dry  out,  and  when 
partly  dried  may  be  put  between  the  sheets  of  the  plant  press  and 
flattened  down  into  such  shape  that  they  can  be  mounted  on 
cards  or  on  the  ordinary  herbarium  paper.  The  press  paper  will 


FIG.  318. — The  shaggy-cap  fungus  in 
sections. 


476  SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

need  to  be  changed  frequently  and  dried  often.  In  the  field, 
specimens  may  be  dried  in  front  of  the  camp  fire.  If  sheets  of 
corrugated  paper  are  used  in  the  plant  press,  together  with  the 
thin  blotting  paper,  the  press  may  be  hung  up  over  the  fire  so 
that  the  hot  air  will  pass  through  the  openings  in  the  corrugated 
paper  and  hasten  the  drying. 

Pond  scum. — There  are  two  groups  of  spore-bearers  quite  as 
simple  as  are  the  fungi  that  do  not  usually  force  themselves  upon 
our  acquaintance,  and  yet  they  are  met  with  often  enough  to 
make  it  worth  while  for  the  child  to  know  them.  These  are  the 
algae,  often  commonly  known  as  pond  scums,  and  the  lichens — • 
those  grayish,  brittle  plants  so  frequently  found  on  stones  and 
tree  trunks.  One  of  the  simplest  algae  is  also  found  on  tree 


FIG.  319. — Part  of  a  filament  of  a  pond  scum  (Spirogyra),  showing  the  coiled 
green  chloroplast  in  the  cell. 

trunks.  The  tree,  especially  on  its  north  side,  or  near  the  ground, 
looks  as  if  it  had  been  given  a  coat  of  green  paint.  In  reality 
this  is  a  layer  of  tiny  plants  no  larger  than  yeast  plants,  growing 
all  over  the  bark.  The  ponds  and  streams,  however,  are  more 
likely  places  to  find  the  algae.  Here  they  grow  in  masses  at  the 
surface,  or  in  green  streamers  waving  in  the  current.  The 
fibrous  sorts  are  known  as  vegetable  silk  and  do  not  appear  very 
attractive,  since  they  look  like  frothy  beds  of  slimy  stuff  with 
water  wrigglers  squirming  in  them  and  an  occasional  green 
frog  blinking  from  the  midst.  But  the  plants  are  really  very 
beautiful  under  the  microscope,  with  their  lustrous  threads 
marked  with  bands  or  stars  of  green  (Fig.  319).  In  the  ocean 
the  algae  are  very  abundant  and  are  commonly  known  as  sea- 
weeds. These  plants  have  holdfasts,  like  roots,  simple  stems 
and  expanded  parts  that  look  much  like  leaves.  They  are 
often  so  tough  as  to  withstand  the  wash  of  the  waves,and  some 


SPORE-BEARERS  477 

grow  to  be  very  large:  the  giant  kelp  has  at  times  a  length  of 
several  hundred  feet. 

The  lichens. — Many  of  the  lichens  are  very  beautiful.  They 
are  really  partnership  plants :  moldlike  fungi  and  tiny  algae  live 
together  and  help  each  other.  In  the  northernmost  states  and 
in  Canada  numerous  lichens  cover  rocks  and  old  logs  (Fig.  320). 
In  the  Niddle  States  they  must  be  hunted,  and  a  gray-green 
Parmelia  that  is  found  on  tree  trunks,  old  fence  boards,  and 
stones  is  likely  to  be  the  one  most  commonly  seen.  Farther 
north  reindeer  moss  (which  is  not  a  moss  at  all)  covers  rods,  even 
acres,  of  soil  (Fig.  321).  It  is  a  much-branched  lichen,  with 
brown  tips  on  its  branches.  The  pyxie  lichen  (Fig.  322)  bears 
spreading  cornucopias  or  trumpets  of  gray  green  as  large  around 
as  a  pencil  and  half  an  inch  or  so  high;  these  are  the  umbrellas 
of  fairy  lore.  The  Cladonias,  of  which  group  the  last  two  are 
samples,  all  have  hollow  stems,  and  many  of  the  stems  are 
branching.  The  branches  of  several  species  are  tipped  with 
brilliantly  colored  spore  cases  which  look  like  bright  red  or  brown 
drops  of  sealing  wax  (Fig.  323). 

The  rocks  are  often  brilliant  with  incrusting  lichens — great 
patches  of  yellow,  brown,  or  black,  looking  like  paint,  so  closely 
do  they  cling.  On  the  rocks,  too,  will  be  found  rock  tripe. 
This  is  one  of  the  edible  lichens  and  was  an  important  article  of 
food  for  the  survivors  of  the  Franklin  Arctic  Expedition.  It 
grows  like  very  thin  circular  crackers  and  is  attached  to  the  rock 
by  a  central  stem.  Above,  it  is  gray  to  brown-  below,  black. 

Mosses. — How  much  the  mosses  add  to  the  beauty  of  the 
out  of  doors,  carpeting  the  waste  places  with  their  soft  green, 
mollifying  the  harshness  of  jagged  cliff,  and  covering  the  decay 
of  fallen  trees  with  a  mantle  of  plush!  And  not  only  are  they 
objects  of  beauty  but  they  are  very  useful,  for  lichens  and  mosses 
are  among  the  first  plants  to  attack  the  rocks  and  cause  them  to 
disintegrate  into  soil.  The  former  do  not  even  need  a  crack  to 
gain  a  foothold.  Without  the  aid  of  these  lowly  spore-bearers 
our  earth  would  be  a  dreary  waste. 


478         SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


FIG.  320. — A  fibrous  lichen  (Usnea  barbata),  pendent  from  spruce  twig 


FIG.  321. — Reindeer  moss 


SPORE-BEARERS  479 

The  hairy-cap  moss. — The  moss  plant  consists  of  two  parts. 
In  such  a  common  moss  as  the  hairy  cap  (Poly trie hium)  (Fig. 
324)  these  are  plainly  seen.  The  lower  part  of  the  plant  is  a 
leafy  stem  with  holdfasts  like  tiny  roots.  The  leaves  are  needle- 
like.  Arising  from  the  tip  of  this  leafy  part  is  a  naked  stalk, 
imbedded  below  in  the  stem,  and  above  bearing  a  spore  case. 
This  spore  case  is  covered  with  a  hairy  cap  like  a  candle  snuffer, 


FIG.  322. — The  pyxie  lichen 

which  pulls  way  down  over  the  spore  case,  and  is  frayed  about 
its  lower  edge.  When  the  spores  are  ready  to  discharge,  this 
cap  falls  off,  but  it  is  a  go  )d  protection  while  the  spores  are 
growing.  In  many  moss  capsules  the  top  of  the  spore  case  is 
perforated  with  tiny  holes  in  regular  and  beautiful  pattern.  Out 
of  these  the  spores  shake,  like  salt  out  of  a  salt  shaker.  Again, 
the  edge  of  the  capsule  may  bear  many  teeth,  which  when 
inturned  retain  the  spores  but  which  let  them  out  when  the  teeth 
stand  straight  up.  When  the  spores  alight  on  moist  earth,  each 


480       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


one  that  is  successful  in  establishing  itself  starts  the  growth  of  a 
new  leafy  moss  plant. 

The  urn  moss. — The  urn  moss  (Phystomitrium)  (Fig.  325) 
is  one  that  bears  its  capsules  early.  By  the  time  the  blue  violets 
are  in  blossom  in  the  spring  this  will  be  found  fruiting  in  woodland 
borders  and  moist  meadows.  The  patch  of  moss  at  this  season 
bears  thousands  of  the  egg-shaped  capsules  on  long  stalks  or 
setae.  Each  capsule  wears  a  jaunty  cap  tipped  with  a  long  spike, 
like  that  on  a  soldier's  helmet.  The  lid  comes  off  this  capsule, 


FIG.  323. — A  lichen  found  on  tree  trunks  (Thelochlistes  parietimts),  showing 
the  spore-bearing  cups. 

as  a  cover  lifts  from  a  teakettle,  and  lets  out  the  spores.     The 
empty  capsule  looks  then  like  a  tiny  urn. 

The  cord  moss. — About  a  month  later  ripe  capsules  will  be 
found  on  the  cord  moss  (Funaria  hygrometrica)  (Fig.  326).  This 
moss^-by  preference,  apparently — inhabits  such  places  as  ash 
heaps,  rubbish  heaps,  and  bits  of  ground  that  have  been  recently 
burned  over.  The  stalk  that  bears  the  capsules,  when  dry,  is 
twisted  like  a  string  and  seldom  stands  erect,  but  bends  over  as 
if  with  the  weight  of  the  spore  case.  A  long  point  that  sticks  out 
nearly  at  right  angles  to  the  capsule  makes  the  cap  look  like  the 
head  of  a  bird,  the  projecting  point  being  its  beak.  When  the 
capsules  of  this  moss  are  dry,  they  are  often  fluted  and  bent  into 


SPORE-BEARERS 


481 


fantastic  shapes.  Since  the  stalks  absorb  moisture,  merely 
breathing  on  this  dry  moss  will  make  the  stalks  untwist.  They 
twist  again,  revolving  the  capsules,  as  they  once  more  dry  out. 


FIG.  324. — The  hairy-  FIG.  325. — The  urn 

cap  moss  (cap  removed       moss 
from  spore  capsule) 


FIG.  326. — The  cord 
moss 


482        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

The  knight's  plume  moss. — Another  very  beautiful  moss  that 
is  commonly  found  on  old  logs  belongs  to  the  genus  Hypnum. 
It  is  known  as  the  pinnate  moss,  or  as  the  knight's  plume  moss, 
because  the  leaves  look  somewhat  like  feathers  or  plumes.  It 
forms  bright  green  mats.  There  are  several  species  of  this  genus, 
but  the  more  common  one  is  Hypnum  imponens.  The  reddish 
stems  of  this  moss  branch  regularly.  The  leaves  curve  to  one 
side  and  usually  bend  down,  while  their  tips  are  frequently  turned 


FIG.  327. — The  bracken  fern 

under  so  as  to  form  a  hook.  The  spore  capsules  in  this  moss  do 
not  come  from  the  ends  of  the  stems  #s  in  those  previously 
studied,  but  from  the  sides.  They  stand  on  nearly  erect  stems, 
are  cylindrical  in  shape,  and  mature  in  the  autumn  or  early 
winter. 

Ferns. — Of  all  the  spore-bearers  the  ferns  are  most  widely 
known  and  admired.  Their  graceful  fronds  are  an  ornament  to 
any  garden,  and  if  one  is  possessed  of  a  yard  which  he  may 
decorate,  one  bed,  preferably  on  the  north  side  of  the  house, 


SPORE-BEARERS  483 

should  be  provided  with  rich  loam  and  planted  to  ferns.  It 
is  a  pleasure  to  stock  it  with  specimens  transplanted  from  the 
woods,  and  to  study  the  habits  of  these  dainty  plants  so  as  to 
know  how  to  care  for  them.  There  is  much  variety  in  them, 
from  the  great  fronds  of  the  royal  to  the  delicate  tracery  of  the 
maidenhairs.  It  will  well  repay  the  trouble  to  attempt  a  bed 
in  the  school  garden.  Observe  carefully  the  conditions  of  soil, 


FIG.  328. — The  rock  polypody  fern 

shade,  and  moisture  under  which  the  ferns  grow  in  their  native 
haunts,  and  then  try  to  duplicate  them  in  the  fern  bed. 

The  brake. — The  tramp  among  ferns  is  the  bracken,  or  brake 
(Fig.  327).  It  is  a  tough  plant,  needing  no  pampering  in  order 
to  succeed.  The  leaf  is  divided  into  three  leaflets,  which  arise 
from  a  common  point  on  the  stem;  each  leaflet  is  in  general 
triangular  and  is  compound.  These  ferns  prefer  rather  dry,  sandy 
soil  and  a  cool  climate.  They  grow  rankly  in  the  north  woods, 
especially  in  burned-over  lands.  The  spore  cases  are  found  in  a 
continuous  row  all  around  the  edge  of  the  leaf,  where  they  are 


484       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

protected  by  its  inrolled  margin.  In  many  other  ferns  the 
spore  cases  are  marginal,  or  nearly  so,  but  not  in  continuous  line. 
The  tender  young  brake  shoots,  picked  before  the  leaves  un- 
roll, make  a  delicious  vegetable  when  cooked  and  served  like 
asparagus. 

The  rock  polypody. — The  rock  polypody  (Poly podium  vulgar  e) 
(Fig.  328)  is  a  common  type  of  the  ferns  in  which  the  clusters  of 


FIG.  329. — The  sensitive  fern,  underground  stem  and  all 

spore  cases  occur  along  the  veins  on  the  underside  of  the  leaves. 
This  fern  is  found  growing  among  rocks  or  in  the  crevices  of 
rocky  cliffs.  The  leaves  are  relatively  small,  being  only  a  foot 
or  less  in  length.  They  are  simple  leaves,  long  and  narrow,  with 
deeply  lobed  margins.  The  color  is  deep  green. 

The  sensitive  fern. — The  sensitive  fern  (Fig.  329)  is  one  that 
prefers  the  borders  of  cool  swamps.  The  spores  are  not  borne 
upon  the  backs  of  the  fronds,  but  upon  a  separate  stalk,  which  is 


SPORE-BEARERS 


485 


really  a  leaf  modified  just  for  this  purpose.  The  spore  cases  are 
held  in  berry-like  bodies  on  either  side  of  the  opposite  branches 
that  are  carried  on  this  spore-bearing  stalk.  The  vegetative  leaf 
(the  ordinary  leaf)  is  one  to  four  feet  long,  broadly  triangular, 
and  cut  almost  to  the  midrib  into  numerous  narrow  lobes  with 
wavy  or  toothed  edges.  The  fern  is  very  sensitive  to  the  early 
frosts,  and  in  the  fall  is  one  of  the  first  plants  to  wilt. 


FIG.  330. — Cinnamon  fern 

The  ostrich  fern  and  its  relatives. — The  ostrich  fern  (Onoclea 
struthiopteris)  likes  the  margins  of  streams.  Its  spores  are  borne, 
as  in  the  sensitive  fern,  on  a  fertile  stalk  a  foot  or  two  high, 
which  looks  like  a  withered  fern  leaf  with  its  edges  inrolled. 
The  vegetative  leaves  are  two  to  seven  feet  long  and  a  foot  or  less 
broad.  There  are  three  other  common  ferns,  all  growing  in 
swampy  places  or  low  woods,  which  belong  to  the  genus  Osmunda. 
These  are  the  cinnamon  fern  (Fig.  330),  Clayton's  fern,  and  the 


486       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


royal  fern.  None  of  them  have  the  spore  cases  on  the  backs  of 
the  ordinary  leaves.  The  cinnamon  fern  has  a  circular  cluster  of 
large  fronds  one  to  five  feet  tall,  with  one  or  several  fertile  leaves 
within  the  cluster.  These  fertile  leaves  die  down  after  maturity, 
and  so  may  not  be  in  evidence.  The  leaves  are  long,  lance- 
shaped,  and  are  made  up  of  numerous  leaflets  that  are  themselves 
deeply  divided.  Spore  cases  are  cinnamon  brown,  and  the  young 


FIG.  331.— A  frond  of  Clayton's  fern  FIG.  33 2. —Spore-bearing  and   sterile 

fronds  of  the  royal  fern. 

haves  are  covered  with  reddish  hairs.  Clayton's  fern  (Fig.  331) 
is  very  similar,  except  that  its  fronds  are  larger,  and  the  fertile 
ones  bear  the  spore  cases  only  in  their  midregion;  the  rest  of  the 
frond  is  like  an  ordinary  vegetative  leaf.  The  royal  fern  (Os- 
munda  regalis)  (Fig.  332)  has  leaves  that  are  twice  compound. 
The  leaflets  vary  from  oblong  to  narrowly  egg-shaped  forms. 
The  spores  are  borne,  not  on  the  back  of  these,  but  at  the  ends 
of  the  leaves,  in  clusters  of  modified  leaflets. 


SPORE-BEARERS  487 

The  grape  ferns  and  walking  ferns. — In  the  grape  ferns 
(Botrychium)  (Fig.  333),  of  which  several  species  grow  in  the 
meadows  while  others  grow  in  the  woods,  there  is  a  single  two 
or  three  times  compound  triangular  leaf.  From  the  base  of  this 
arises  the  spore-bearing  portion — a  stalk  that  has  at  its  tip  an 
erect  cluster  of  spore-bearing  leaflets,  which  look  like  a  loose 
cluster  of  small  grapes,  except  that  they  are  brown.  There  is  a 
curious  fern  known  as  the  walking  fern,  which  grows  ordinarily 
in  rocky  places.  The  leaves  are  lance-shaped  and  simple,  with 


FIG.  333. — The  grape  fern:  at  right  a  frond  with  the  spore-bearing  tip 


a  very  much  elongated  tip.  When  the  end  of  this  leaf  touches 
the  ground  a  new  plant  starts  from  it.  Thus  the  plant  advances 
by  steps  and  is  therefore  named  the  walking  fern. 

Some  wood  ferns. — The  evergreen  Christmas  fern  (Fig.  334) 
is  a  woods  fern  which  also  prefers  the  rocky  places.  The  leaves 
are  from  six  inches  to  two  feet  long,  rather  wide.  The  leaflets 
are  narrowly  lance-shaped,  almost  arrow-shaped  at  the  base. 
The  clusters  of  spore  cases  are  round  and  each  is  covered  with  a 
nearly  transparent  membrane  that  has  a  stalk  at  its  center. 
The  oak  fern  (Fig.  335)  is  another  fern  of  the  woods.  There  is  a 
large  group  of  wood  ferns  known  as  the  shield  ferns.  In  this 


488       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

fern,  also,  the  groups  of  spore  cases  are  round,  but  the  little  mem- 
brane that  covers  them,  known  as  the  indusium,  is  heart-shaped 
or  kidney-shaped,  and  is  attached  by  the  cleft  of  the  heart.  The 
leaves  are  compound,  sometimes  twice  compound.  In  the  wood- 
sias,  which  are  also  rock-loving  ferns,  the  indusium  spreads  out 
in  star-shaped  form  from  underneath  the  clusters  of  spore  cases. 


FIG.  334.— The  evergreen  Christmas 
fern  with  underground  stem. 


FIG-  335- — Frond  of  the  oak  fern 


Underground  stem. — If  one  of  these  ferns  (or  any  other 
common  one)  is  rooted  up,  it  will  be  found  that  the  stem  from 
which  the  leaves  spring  is  all  underground.  (This  is  not  true  of 
tropical  ferns,  in  which  the  stem  is  often  a  trunk  of  treelike 
proportions.)  This  underground  stem,  or  root  stalk,  branches 
freely  and  grows  continuously  at  its  apex  and  also  at  the  tips  of 
its  branches.  It  dies  as  continuously  at  the  other  end  and  there- 
fore separates  into  many  independent  root  stalks.  The  root 
stalks  all  bear  many  roots. 


SPORE-BEARERS  489 

Life-history  of  fern. — The  spore  of  the  fern,  discharged  from 
the  leaf,  falls  directly  to  the  ground  or  is  carried  some  distance 
by  the  wind  or  possibly  on  the  feathers  or  feet  of  a  bird.  It  is 
so  small  that  it  may  ride  unnoticed  for  a  long  way  before  it  drops 
in  some  moist  spot  of  ground  where  it  germinates.  The  outer 
coat  breaks  and  liberates  the  living  content  as  a  single  cell. 
This  multiplies,  and  the  mass  of  cells  so  formed  assumes  the 
shape  of  a  tiny  heart,  a  thin  green  prothallium.  This  bears  both 


FIG.  336. — Two  species  of  horsetail 

eggs  and  sperm;  and  after  the  egg  is  fertilized  it  grows  into  the 
fern  plant  that  we  know.  If  you  examine  carefully  a  bed  of  ferns 
in  the  fall  you  will  likely  find  these  heart-shaped  prothallia  on  the 
ground  in  any  moist  bare  spot,  and  from  some  of  them  the  little 
fern  plant  may  be  growing.  Another  good  place  to  find  them 
is  at  a  florist's,  in  pots  of  ferns,  on  the  pots,  in  the  soil  of  the 
benches,  or  often  under  the  bench  where  the  ferns  are  kept.  If 
the  life-history  of  any  of  the  spore-bearers  is  to  be  traced  at  all 
completely,  that  of  the  fern  is  the  easiest  one  for  the  children  to 


490       SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


FIG.  337. — Strobilus  and  a  single  spore  of  the  horsetail,  latter  enlarged 


FIG.  338. — The  trailing  club  moss 


SPORE-BEARERS  491 

follow.  Spores  sprinkled  on  the  surface  of  moist  sand  in  a 
covered  plant  pot  will  grow  and  show  these  prothallia. 

The  horsetails  and  the  club  mosses  are  close  relatives  of  the 
ferns.  The  horsetails  (Fig.  336)  are  easily  known  by  the  fact 
that  their  stems  are  jointed  and  pull  apart  without  difficulty. 
The  leaves,  too,  if  present  are  needle-like  and  jointed.  They 
are  commonly  found  along  the  sandy  fillings  of  railroad  tracks, 
and  also  in  the  swamp  margins,  though  it  is  a  different  species 
that  is  found  in  such  locations.  At  the  top  of  the  stem,  in  some 
species  on  the  leafy  stalk,  in  others  on  a  separate  stalk,  there 
grows  a  conelike  cluster  of  spore  cases  (Fig.  337).  Each  little 
scaly  leaf  of  the  cone  is  umbrella-shaped,  and  underneath  the 
umbrella  are  the  spore  cases.  When  the  spores  are  ripe,  you  can 
dust  them  out  into  the  palm  of  your  hand;  and  if  you  breathe 
gently  on  them  they  appear  to  wriggle.  Each  spore  is  provided 
with  four  coiled  hairs,  which  straighten  out  as  they  absorb 
moisture.  Under  a  simple  tripod  lens,  or  a  cheap  linen  tester, 
the  spores  form  a  writhing  mass  when  they  are  slightly  moistened 
by  the  breath. 

The  stems  of  these  horsetails  or  Equisetae  are  harsh  with 
much  silica  deposited  in  them,  the  same  substance  that  gives 
sapolio  its  scouring  properties.  Puritan  housewives  used  a 
bunch  of  the  stems  for  cleaning  pans  and  the  plant  thus  acquired 
another  common  name,  the  scouring  rush. 

The  club  mosses  (Fig.  338)  are  also  called  the  ground  pines, 
both  of  which  names  are  unfortunate,  because  they  are  not  mosses 
and  they  are  not  pines,  though  they  are  the  next  thing  to  the 
pines.  These  grow  upon  the  ground,  many  of  them  in  trailing 
fashion,  and  one,  the  Lycopodium  clavatum,  is  very  familiar  as  a 
Christmas  green.  The  spores  in  most  cases  are  borne  in  cone- 
shaped  clubs  that  arise  on  slender,  naked  stalks  at  or  near  the  tips 
of  the  branches. 


492        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 

BIBLIOGRAPHY1 

Atkinson,  George  F.    Mushrooms.    New  York:  Henry  Holt  &  Co.    $3.00 
Brown  and  Britain.     Flora  of  Northern  United  States  and  Canada.    Three 

vols.    New  York:  Charles  Scribner  and  Sons.    $11.00. 
Bulletin  of  Illinois  State  Laboratory  of  Natural  History,  Urbana.     Vol.  XI, 

art.  vii.    November,  1917. 
Clute,  Willard  N.    The  Fern  Allies  of  North  America.    New  York:   F.  A. 

Stokes  Co.    $2 . 50. 

— .    Our  Ferns  in  Their  Haunts.    New  York :  F.  A.  Stokes  Co.    $2 . 50. 
Cole,  Emma  L.  T.    Guide  to  the  Mushrooms.    Worcester,  Mass.:    C.  K. 

Reed.    $0.75. 
Farmers'  Bulletins: 

No.  146,  Insecticides  and  Fungicides. 

No.  204,  Cultivation  of  Mushrooms. 

No.  412,  Typhoid  or  House  Fly. 

No.  450,  Some  Facts  about  Malaria. 

No.  473,  Tuberculosis;  Plain  Statement  of  Facts  Regarding  Disease  for 
Farmers  and  Others  Interested  in  Live  Slock. 

No.  492,  More  Important  Insect  and  Fungous  Enemies  of  Fruit  and 
Foliage  of  Apples. 

No.  507,  Smuts  of  Wheat,  Oats,  Barley,  and  Corn. 

No.  530,  Important  Poultry  Diseases. 

No.  544,  Potato  Tuber  Diseases. 

No.  547,  Yellow  Fever  Mosquito. 

No.  555,  Cotton  Anlhracnose  and  How  to  Control  It. 

No.  625,  Cotton  Wilt  and  Root-Knot. 

No.  787,  Mushroom  Pests  and  How  to  Control  Them. 

No.  856,  Control  of  Diseases  and  Insect  Enemies  of  the  Home  Vegetable 

Garden. 
Franklin  and  Franklin.    Life  of  Pasteur.    New  York:    Macmillan  &  Co. 

$1.25. 
Grout,  A.  J.    Mosses  with  a  Hand-Lens.    Published  by  the  author,  360 

Lenox  Road,  Brooklyn,  N.Y.    $1.75. 
Hopkins,  Lewis  S.     The  Ferns  of  Allegheny  County.    Botanical  Society 

of  Pennsylvania,  Carnegie  Museum,  Pittsburgh.    $1.25. 
Indiana  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  (La  Fayette).    Apple  Diseases  in 

Indiana.     Circular  No.  70. 
Keim  and  Lumet.    Life  of  Pasteur.    New  York:  F.  A.  Stokes  &  Co.    $0.75. 

1  Farmers'  bulletins  are  issued  by  the  United  States  Department  of  Agri- 
culture, Washington,  D.C. 


SPORE-BEARERS  493 

Kellerman,  W.  A.    Mycological  Bulletin,  giving  descriptions  of  mushrooms. 

Many  numbers  published.     Ohio  State  University,  Columbus. 
Kelly,  H.  A.    Walter  Reed  and  Yellow  Fever.    Baltimore:  Medical  Standard 

Book  Co.     $1.50. 
Mcllvaine.    One  Thousand  American  Fungi.    Indianapolis:  Bobbs-Merrill 

Co.    $5.00. 
Marshall,  Nina  L.     The  Mushroom  Book.    New  York:   Doubleday,  Page 

&Co.    $4-00. 
.    Mosses   and   Lichens.    New   York:    Doubleday,    Page    &    Co. 

$4 .  oo. 
Ohio  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  (Wooster).    Mushrooms,  Edible  and 

Poisonous.     Circular  No.  153. 
Parsons,  F.  T.    How  to  Know  the  Ferns.    New  York:  Charles  Scribner  and 

Sons.    $i .  50. 
Plant  Industry  Bulletins,  Washington,  B.C.: 

No.  51,  Wilt  Diseases  of  Tobacco  and  Its  Control. 

No.  85,  Principles  of  Mushroom  Growing  and  Mushroom  Spawn  Making. 

No.  152,  Loose  Smuts  of  Barley  and  Wheat. 

No.  174,  Control  of  Peach  Brown  Rot  and  Scab. 

No.  216,  Rusts  of  Grains  in  the  United  States. 
Public  Health  Bulletins,  Washington,  B.C.: 

No.  30,  The  Rat  in  Relation  to  Public  Health. 

No.  36,  Tuberculosis,  Its  Nature  and  Prevention. 

No.  42,  Disinfectants. 
Underwood,  L.  M.    Our  Native  Ferns.     New  York:    Henry  Holt  &  Co. 

$1.00. 

Waters,  Campbell  E.    Ferns.    New  York:  Henry  Holt  &  Co.     $3 .00. 
Winslow,  Anne  Rogers.     Microbes  Good  and  Bad.     Boston:  Health  Educa- 
tional League,  8  Beacon  Street.    $0.04. 


APPENDIX 

There  is  given  a  list  of  a  few  firms  from  which  apparatus  and 
supplies  may  be  obtained.  There  are  many  others  equally  good, 
but  these  the  author  has  found  reliable  and  accommodating.  A 
complete  list  would  be  confusing  and  occupy  space  unnecessarily. 

Bausch  and  Lomb  Optical  Co.,  Rochester,  N.Y.    Lanterns,  magnifiers. 

Cambridge  Botanical  Supply  Co.,  Waverley,  Mass. 

Central  Scientific  Co.,  345  W.  Michigan  St.,  Chicago,  111.  Lantern 
slides,  apparatus,  biological  preparations. 

Chicago  Biological  Supply  House,  5505  Kimbark  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 
Animal  material,  plants,  lantern  slides,  etc. 

Conrad  Slide  and  Projection  Co.,  4028  Jackson  Blvd.,  Chicago,  111. 
Lantern  slides  of  common  flowers,  etc. 

Denton  Brothers,  Wellesley,  Mass.    Butterflies  and  insect  mounts. 

Hough,  R.  B.,  Lowville,  N.Y.    Tree  sections. 

Kaemfer,  Fred,  88  State  St.,  Chicago,  111.    Living  animals. 

The  Kny-Scherer  Co.,  410  W.  27th  St.,  New  York  City.  Insects, 
mounts,  life-histories,  and  general  biological  materials. 

Mclntosh  Stereopticon  Co.,  Chicago,  111.    Lanterns  and  slides. 

Mumford,  A.  W.,  536  S.  Clark  St.,  Chicago,  111.    Bird  pictures. 

National  Audubon  Society,  New  York  City.     Bird  pictures. 

Perry  Picture  Co.,  Maiden,  Mass.    Bird  and  other  nature  pictures. 

Root,  A.  I.,  Co.,  Medina,  Ohio.     Bee  supplies. 

Spencer  Lens  Company,  Buffalo,  N.Y.     Lanterns,  magnifiers,  etc. 

Underwood  and  Underwood,  New  York  City.  Lantern  slides ,  including 
a  nature-study  series. 

Ward's  Natural  Science  Establishment,  Rochester,  N.Y.  Mounted 
birds  and  animals  and  other  natural-history  material. 

W.  M.  Welch  Manufacturing  Company,  1516  Orleans  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
Weed  seeds,  plant  mounts,  charts,  etc. 


494 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Adaptation,  159 

Adjustment,  213 

Alder,  tag,  336,  337 

Algae,  476 

Ailanthus,  333 

Amaranth:   low,  257;  spiny,  267;  tall, 

288,  289 

Animal :   color,  211,  212;  weapons,  209 
Annelida,  67 
Anseres,  156,  158 
Antennae,  17,  58,  71 
Anthrax,  464 
Ants,  98;  house,  98 
Aphids,  117 
Appendix,  494 

Apple,  377;    varieties,  377;    worm,  82 
Aquarium,  3;  plants  for,  6 
Arbor  vitae,  313 
Argiope,  134 
Arthropods,  67 
Asellus,  22 

Ash,  317;   mountain,  337;  prickly,  334 
Asparagus,  425 
Asters,  285 

Bacteria,  455,  458,  460,  461 

Ballooning  spiders,  135 

Balsam,  313 

Basswood,  330 

Bath,  bird,  180 

Bean,  384,  388,  413 

Beasts  of  burden,  193 

Beaver,  304,  306 

Bedstraw,  260 

Bee  bird,  162 

Beech,  326;  water,  325,  326 

Beef  clubs,  446 

Beehive,  106,  108 

Bees,  103 


Beetles,  117;  click,  124;  eyedelater,  124; 

diving,    2,    31;     fiery  hunter,    122; 

ground,  117,  122;    horned  Passalus, 

124;   ladybird,  125;   long-horn,  125; 

potato,    117;    searcher,    122;    tiger, 

120,  123;    water  scavenger,  31,  34; 

whirligig,    31,    34,  35;   woodborers, 

123 

Beggar- ticks,  268,  271,  272 
Bibliographies,  55,  137,  188,  231,  308, 

367,  409,  447,  492 
Bindweed,  253,  265 
Birch,  321 
Bird:  bath,  1 80;  enemies,  182;  feeding, 

181;  feet  of,  1 60;  food  of,  162;  head 

of,  159;  houses,  178;  wing  of,  160 
Birds,  141;   and  insects,  165;   as  weed 

destroyers,  167 
Blackbird  family,  154,  162 
Blossom  parts,  237 
Bluejay,  155,  162 
Bobolink,  162,  173,  174 
Bordeaux  mixture,  84,  467 
Bouncing  Betty.    See  Soapwort 
Box  elder,  317 
Bread  making,  458 
Breathing  of  insect,  62;   of  plant,  397; 

pores,  396 

Breeding,  chickens,  225 
Brown  thrasher,  153,  154 
Bryophytes,  67 
Buckeye,  317 
Buckhorn,  262 
Buckwheat,  wild,  254 
Buds,  314 
Buffalo  bur,  266 
Bugs,  31,  39,  115 
Bulbs,  415 
Bullfrog,  47 
Burdock,  268,  270 
Butcher  bird,  153 
Butter   and  eggs,  284,  285 
Butter  making,  229 


497 


498      N  SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


Butterflies,  86;  anglewing,  93;  cab- 
bage, 90;  fritillary,  90;  hairstreak, 
93;  monarch,  87;  mourning  cloak, 
90;  painted  lady,  92;  papilio,  94; 
sulphur,  92;  swallowtail,  93 ;  viceroy, 
89;  food  plants  of,  96 

Butterfly  weed,  274 

Cabbage,  421,  424;  butterfly,  90 

Caddis  fly,  32 

Cages  for  pets,  195 

Campion,  272,  273 

Canning  clubs,  392,  445 

Canthocampus,  23,  25 

Carbon  dioxide,  398,  400,  402 

Carrot,  wild,  253  . 

Castor  bean,  389 

Cat,  203,  207,  208,  213,  217;  bird  des- 
troyer, 185;  trap,  187 

Catalpa,  315 

Catbird,  153 

Catchfly,  272 

Catnip,  277,  281 

Cauliflower,  421 

Cecropia,  72 

Cedar:  red,  313;  white,  313 

Cheese  weed,  258,  259 

Cheetah,  192 

Cherry,  323 

Chess,  282 

Chickadee,  151 

Chicken,  206,  208,  217;  breeding,  225; 
breeds  of,  218;  feeding,  223;  house, 
218;  trap  nest,  221 

Chick  weed,  256,  257 

Chironomus,  37 

Chrysalis,  70 

Chub,  53 

Cicada  killer,  115 

Cladocerans,  26 

Clam,  2,  9,  14;  foot,  13;  mantle,  14; 
shell,  13;  siphon,  2 

Classification,  66,  67 

Cleavage  of  egg,  45 

Clotbur,  267 

Clothes  moth,  85 

Clover,  247;  alsike,  249;  red,  248; 
sweet,  248;  white,  248 


Club  moss,  490,  491 

Cocklebur,  267,  269 

Cockroaches,  64 

Cocoons,  73,  75 

Coffee  tree,  332 

Coleoptera,  67 

Collecting:   fungi,    475;   insects,    127; 

net,  3 
Corn,  389,  390,  441,  443;    clubs,  393, 

443 

Corn  cockle,  272,  273 
Corydalis,  33 
Cotyledons,  389 
Courtship,  spider,  134 
Cover  design,  97,  234,  345 
Cow,  205,  269,  211,  215,  227;   breeds, 

227;  feed,  229 
Cowbird,  155 
Crab,  wild,  337 
Crane  order,  157 
Crayfish,  16;  chimney,  19;  eggs  of,  20; 

mating  of,  20;  molting  of,  21 
Creeper:  brown,  151;  family,  151 
Cricket:  ear,  60;  music,  59;  wing,  60 
Cricketfrog,  48 
Crow,  162;   family,  155 
Crustacea,  67;   classification  of,  22 
Crustaceans,  21,  23 
Cultivation,  408 
Currants,  426 
Cuttings,  417,  426;    setting  out,  420, 

422 

Cyanide  bottle,  129 
Cyclops,  23,  25,  26,  27 
Cypress,  311 
Cypris,  23,  26,  27 

Daisy,  oxeye,  285,  295 
Damsel  fly,  27,  31 
Dandelion,  245,  262 
Daphnia,  23,  26,  27 
Deciduous  trees,  313 
Deer,  205 

Development  of  eggs,  43 
Devil's  darning  needle,  27 
Diaptomus,  25 
Diptera,  67 


INDEX 


499 


Disease  and  flies,  125 

Diseases,  462,  466 

Dispersal  of  seed,  302 

Distribution,  216;  local,  67,  122 

Dityscus,  2 

Dobson,  2,  31,  33 

Dock,  262,  264,  265;  bur,  268 

Dodder,  255 

Dog,  192,  203,  207,  209,  211,  215 

Dogbane,  243 

Dog  fennel,  276,  279 

Dogwood,  flowering,  318. 

Dolomedes,  41 

Doormat.    See  Knotweed 

Dragon  fly,  27;   life-history,  28;   molt, 

29;  nymph,  2,  28 
Drinking,  methods,  207 
Drone,  105 
Dust,  461 

Egg,  240,  241 

Eggs:  of  frog,  42;  of  moth,  71 

Elephant,  193 

Elm,  326,  327 

Embryo,  44 

Equisetum,  490,  491 

Eubranchipus,  23,  25 

Evergreens,  309 

Extermination,  insects,  65 

Eyes:    compound,  58;    simple,  58 

Falcon,  192 

Feed  for  chickens,  223 

Feeding  pets,  201 

Feeding-shelf,  bird,  183 

Fern  frond,  452 

Ferns,  482;  bracken,  483;  cinnamon, 
485;  Clayton's,  485,  486;  evergreen 
Christmas,  487,488;  grape,  487;  oak, 
489;  ostrich,  485;  rock  polypody, 
452,  484;  royal,  486;  sensitive,  484; 
walking,  487 

Fertilization,  239,  240 

Fibrovascular  bundles,  237,  348 

Finch  family,  153 

Fires  in  forests,  356 

Firming,  408 


Fish,  52;    movements  of,  27;    rearing, 

53 

Fleabane,  293,  294 
Flies,  125 

Flower:   seed,  414,  419,  425;   show,  371 
Fly:    black,    31,    37;     harlequin,    37; 

stone,  31,  32 
Flycatcher  family,  155 
Food:   of  birds,  162;   plants  of  moths 

and  butterflies,  95 
Foods  in  seed,  388 
Forests,  350,  351 
Frog:  bull,  47;  cricket,  48;  green,  47; 

pickerel,  48;    spring,  47;    tree,  48; 

wood,  48;   eggs  of,  42 
Fruit,  239;   display,  375;   trees,  431 
Fungi,  450,  467 
Fungus:   Amanita,  471;  bracket,  473, 

474;   cup,  473;   inky  cap,  468,  469, 

470;  fairy  ring,  474;  meadow,  468; 

shaggy,   473,  475 
Fur,  209 
Furniture,  346 

Gallinae,  156 

Gallinule,  158 

Gammarus,  23,  24 

Garden,  410;  home,  427;   laying  out, 

410;     on    farm,    428;    paths,    413; 

school,  410;  types,  411 
Garlic,  275 
Gaura,  292 
Germinator,  380 
Gills:   insect,  40;  of  crayfish,  18 
Ginkgo,  328,  330 
Glass,  cutting,  100 
Glass  tubing:   bending,  403;   breaking, 

402 

Goldenrod,  285,  287 
Grafting,  432;  wax,  433 
Grapes,  427 
Grass:   barnyard,  281,  283;   cheat,  282; 

crab,    279,    281;     foxtail,    281;     old 

witch,   280,    282;    quack,    283,    284; 

sandbur,  267,  270;    spreading  pani- 

cum,  280,  282;  squirreltail,  281,  284; 

vanilla,  282 
Grebe  order,  158 
Grosbeaks,  153 
Ground  pine,  490,  491 
Growth,  conditions  of,  399 


500        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


Gulls,  158 

Gum:  sour,  327;  sweet,  334 

Hackberry,  324 

Hawks,  164 

Hawthorn,  334 

Hazel,  witch,  335,  337 

Hemlock,  313;   poison,  253;  water,  253 

Hemp:   Indian,  245;   wild,  275,  276 

Henhouse,  218 

Herbarium,  475 

Heron  order,  158 

Hibernation,  211 

Hickory,  324 

Hickory-horned  devil,  73,  74 

Horehound,  277,  280 

Hornbeam,  325 

Horse,  209,  211,  215 

Horse  chestnut,  316 

Horse  nettle,  267 

Horsetail,  490,  491 

Horseweed,  293 

Hound's-tongue,  269,  272,  276 

House  fly,  disease  carrier,  459 

Hunter,  animals  that  aid,  192 

Hybrid:    corn,  441;    grains,  440;  peas, 

437;  wheat,  440 
Hybridization,  436 

Imago,  70 

Insect:  breathing,  39;  cage,  57;  rate 
of  multiplication,  165 

Insects:  ravages  of,  164;  and  pollina- 
tion. See  Pollination 

Instinct,  114 

Iron  wood,  326 

Ivy:  ground,  258,  259;  poison,  246 

Jimson  weed,  269,  270,  273,  276 
Juneberry.    See  Shadbush 
Juniper,  313 

Katydid,  64 
Killing  insects,  128 
Kingbird,  162 

Kinglet,  golden-crowned,    151;     ruby- 
crowned,  151 
Knotweed,  256 
Koch,  Robert,  462 


Lamb's-quarters,  289,  290 

Larch,  311 

Larva:  Cecropia  moth,  72;  tomato- 
worm  moth,  71;  walnut  moth,  74 

Lawn,  435 

Leaf,  395 

Leek,  275 

Lettuce,  prickly,  245 

Lichens,  476,  478,  479 

Light,  determines  migration,  27 

Limbs  of  animals,  214 

Linden,  330,  331 

Lithobius,  131 

Loco  weed,  250 

Locust,  58,  62;  331,  333;  egg-laying, 
61;  plague,  63 

Lumbering,  346 

Males,  209 

Mallow,  creeping,  258,  259 

Mandrake,  239,  240 

Mantis,  91 

Maples,  317 

May  apple.    See  Mandrake 

May-fly  nymph,  30,  31 

Melilotus,  249 

Mendel's  laws,  437 

Mensbriigghe  float,  42 

Migration,  27,  63;  bird,  168;  rate  of 
bird,  170;  time  of  bird,  175;  cotton- 
boll  weevil,  121;  gypsy  moth,  81; 
potato  beetle,  120;  weed,  297 

Milk  analysis,  228 

Milkweed,  242,  274 

Milliped,  131 

Minnows,  53 

Mocking-bird  family,  153 

Molds,  452 

Mollusca,  15,  67 

Molting,  20,  29,  6 1 

Money  bugs,  31,  34 

Morel,  edible,  472 

Morning-glory,  253,  254;  bindweed,  254 

Mosquito:  and  malaria,  465;  and 
yellow  fever,  465;  larva,  34,  35,  36 

Mosses,  477;  cord,  480,  481;  hairy 
cap,  479,  481;  knight's  plume,  482; 
urn,  480,  481 


INDEX 


Moths:  apple,  82;  browntail,  80; 
Cecropia,  72;  clothes,  85;  gypsy,  80; 
Polyphemus,  75;  royal  walnut,  74; 
tomato,  71;  tussock,  78,  79;  food- 
plants  of,  95 

Mountain  ash,  337 

Mucor,  453 

Mulberry,  338 

Mullein,  260,  261 

Mushrooms,  467;  aminita,  470; 
bracket,  472,  473;  cup,  4735  inky 
cap,  468,  469,  470;  meadow,  467, 
468;  morel,  472;  puff  ball,  450,  457, 
470;  shaggy,  473>  475 

Music,  cricket,  59 

Muskrat,  205,  210 

Mustard,  295,  296 

Myriopoda,  67 

Nests:   birds',  144;   cliff  swallow,  147; 

heron,  147;  herring  gull,  146;  marsh 

wren,  148;  oriole,  144;  swallow,  147; 

tern,  145;  thrasher,  146;  woodcock, 

145 

Net  for  collecting,  3 
Nightshajde,  289,  291 
Notebook,  344,  345 
Nuthatch,  red-breasted,  152 
Nymph,  28 

Oaks,  327,  329 
Onion,  wild,  275,  278 
Opposite  branches,  315 
Orange,  Osage,  334 
Orthoptera,  64,  67 
Owls,  162 
Oxidation,  399 

Oxygen:  plant  needs,  399;  plant  gives 
off,  401 

Palaemonetes,  21,  23,  25 
Palpi,  58,  132 
Parasites,  74,  76 
Parsley  family,  252,  253 
Parsnip,  252,  253 
Passer  es,  149 
Passion  flower,  255 
Pasteur,  Louis,  462 
Pea,  389,  439J  hybrids,  437 


Pendllium,  454 

Pennyroyal,  278,  280 

Peppergrass,  292 

Pepperidge,  327 

Peppermint,  277,  280 

Pets,  193;  care  of,  197 

Photosynthesis,  400 

Pig,  215,  217;   clubs,  391,  444 

Pigeons,  156,  208 

Pigweed.    See  Amaranth 

Pine:  pitch,  311;  red,  311;  scrub,  311; 

seeds,  390 

Pink  root.    See  Amaranth 
Plankton,  27 

Plant:  diseases,  466;  parts  of,  235 
Plantain,  237,  260,  263;    English,  262 
Planting  plan,  434 
Plover,  golden,  171,  173 
Poison:   for  insects,  65;    ivy,  246,  247 
Poisonous  plants,   245,  246,  250,   251, 

253,  269,  288,  290 
Pokeweed,  288 
Pollination,  240;  insects  and,  243,  244, 

291 

Polygyra,  10 
Polyphemus  moth,  75 
Polypody,  rock,  452,  484 
Polypores,  473 
Pond  scum,  476 
Poplars,  319 

Potato:  growing,  443;   wild,  253 
Primrose,  evening,  239,  290 
Projects,  430,  436 
Propagation,  303 
Protection,  animal,  208 
Pteridophytes,  67 
Puff  ball,  450,  451,  470 
Purple  martin,  153 
Purslane,  257,  258 

Queen  Anne's  lace.    See  Wild  parsnip 
Queen  bee,  105,  106 

Rabbits,  204,  211 

Rabies,  465 

Ragged  robin,  273 

Ragweed:   giant,  275,  277;    lesser,  293 


502        SOURCE  BOOK  OF  BIOLOGICAL  NATURE-STUDY 


Rats,  204 

Redbud,  332 

Respiration  in  plants,  397 

Ribwort.    See  Plantain 

Rings  of  growth,  348 

Robin,  149 

Rodents,  204 

Root,  getting  into  ground,  386 

Root  hairs,  382 

Sandbur,  267,  270 

Sandpipers,  157 

Sassafras,  330 

Scale:  cottony,  117;  San  Jose,  117 

School  furniture,  461 

Seed,  371;  coats,  387;  growth  of,  384; 
parts  of,  384,  388;  plot,  442;  pods, 
238;  position  in  soil,  453;  race,  382; 
swelling  of,  385 

Senses  of  animals,  212 

Sew  fly,  27 

Shadbush,  336 

Sheep,  205,  214 

Sheep  sorrel,  287 

Shepherd's-purse,  292,  293 

Shrike  family,  153 

Shrimp,  fairy,  23,  25 

Shrimps,  21,  23 

Silkworm,  77;   disease,  463 

Slips,  418 

Slugs,  14,  1 6 

Smartweed,  286,  287 

Smell,  213 

Snail:  breathing,  8;  eggs,  8;  foot,  7; 
land,  10, 12, 15;  mantle,  9;  mouth,  7; 
water,  u 

Snake  doctor,  27 

Snipe  order,  157 

Snow-on-the-mountain,  246,  247 

Soap  wort,  236,  271 

Soil:  acid,  405;  structure,  405;  water 
content,  406 

Spanish  needles,  268,  272 

Sparrows,  153;  English,  182;  poison- 
ing, 183;  trap,  184 

Spearmint,  277,  280 

Spermatophytes,  67 


Sphaeridae,  15 

Spider:   courtship  of,  134;    diving,  40; 

spinnerets  of,  132 
Spiders,  132 
Spore:   germination,  451,  455,  459;   of 

equisetum,  490,  491;   of  fern,  489 
Spore-bearers,  450 
Sporobolus,  131 
Spraying,  84 
Spreading-board,  129 
Spruce,  313 
Spurge,  245 
Squash  bug,  115 
Squirrel,  204,  211 
Sterilization,  455,  456 
Stickleback,  54 
Stinking  Willie,  276 
Stomata,  396 

Strobilus  of  equisetum,  490 
Sumac,  333 
Sunfish,  53 
Surface  film,  41 
Swallow  family,  153 
Swallowtail  butterflies,  94 
Swarming,  105 
Swiimmerets,  17 
Sycamore,  324 

Tadpole,  46 

Tansy,  276,  293 

Tern,  158 

T  hallo  phytes,  67 

Thistle:     bull,     266;      Canada,     266; 

Russian,  263,  265;  sow,  245 
Thorn  apple,  269 
Thrush:  blueback,  150;  family,  149; 

hermit,  151;  red-breasted,  149;  wood, 

Titmouse  family,  151 

Toad,  48 

Toadflax,  284,  285 

Tomato  worm,  69 

Tomatoes,  421,  423;    varieties,  423 

Tracheal  tubes,  39 

Transpiration,  395 

Trap  nest  for  hen,  221 


INDEX 


503 


Trays  for  planting,  420 

Tree:     collections,    342;     fruit,    431; 

growth,  347;    key,  361;    map,  342; 

planting,    431;     propagation,    430; 

study  methods,  338 
Tree  frog,  48 
Tulip  tree,  330 
Turkey,  206 
Turtles,  49;    box,  51,  52;    geographic, 

49;    musk,  49;    painted  pond,   49; 

snapping,    50,    51;     soft    shell,    51; 

spotted,  49 
Tussock  moth,  78 

Umbrella  wort,  271 

Vaccines,  464 

Vegetable  seed,  414,  419,  425 

Vermin,  extermination,  65 

Vertebrates,  67 

Vervain,  274,  275 

Vetch,  249 

Walnut,  324 

Warbler,  mourning,  172 

Warblers,  151,  154 

Wasps,  in;  digger,  113;  mud  dauber, 
113;  Polistes,  112;  Vespa,  in 

Wastes,  plant,  404 

Water:  boatman,  38;  breathing,  39; 
bug,  giant,  2,  31,  39;  in  plant,  394, 
395;  plants,  6;  scorpion,  35,  37; 


skater,  35,  37;    sowbug,  22;    strider, 

2,  35,  37;  tiger,  2,  31,  33 
Weapons  of  animals,  209 
Webs  of  spiders,  133 
Weeds,    235;  ^ collection,    305;    garden, 

306;    identification,    241;    table    of, 

298 

Wheat,  441 

Whiskers  of  animals,  213 
Whistle,  350 
Whorls,  311 

Wild  traits  of  tame  animals,  202 
Willow,  321,  322 
Willow  herb,  291 
Witch-hazel,  335,  337 
Wolf  spiders,  136 
Wolves,  209,  2ii 
Wood  frog,  48 
Wood  sorrel,  259 
Woodbine,  246 
Woodlot,  farmer's,  359 
Woodpeckers,  156 
Woods,  uses  of,  345 
Wormwood,  294,  295 

Yard,  planting,  435 
Yarrow,  276,  279 
Yeast,  457,  458 
Yellow  fever,  465 
Yew,  313 


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